


Gundam Wing: After War

by Shadow_Chaser



Series: After War Series [1]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, I like writing Gundam battles even though spatial concept is not right, political story, really old fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-03-28
Updated: 2000-03-28
Packaged: 2017-12-28 03:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/987384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow_Chaser/pseuds/Shadow_Chaser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>3 years after Endless Waltz, there are stirrings of a new rebellion. Now the Gundam pilots must protect the Earth and the ideals of peace once more. Based off of Endless Waltz. Rate and review! -Alternate Universe-</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gundam Wing: After War

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first of the "After War" series collected into one story. It was my first published story on fanfiction.net and is only marginally better than my first attempt. This story also marks my long obsession with writing villains that test heroes. "After War" was my attempt to get away from Mary Sues, but in hindsight, I created one just to be with Quatre who is my favorite pilot in Gundam Wing. Oh well...can't have everything.
> 
> Fair warning: this story is bad. It's pretty horrible. This is only posted for nostalgia and archival purposes.

New  Mobile Report Gundam Wing: After War

By: Shadow Chaser

 

**_Author's Notes:_ **

Okay, there are a few things that need to be cleared up here.  I am saying that Quatre's sister; Iria survived (Episode 21) and is on Colony 04.  Also, Lady Une is now Ambassador Lady Une as her two personalities merged together (she's not split anymore).   By the way, I'm making Catherine Bloom, Trowa's sister, because I have found sufficient information regarding her and Trowa.  Also the characters might seem out of line, but in three years, you can change in some ways.  Don't worry, they still have hints of their TV and OAV personalities; like Heero isn't that anti-social and he cares for someone (not telling who); and Trowa isn't that quiet anymore, but he is still non-emotional when battling.  Those are just some of the personality changes (everyone in this story is changed in a bit of a way).  Also I am bending some rules that was applied to the OAV Endless Waltz.  I didn't really like the way it ended, so I'm making all of the mobile suits go into storage also the Gundams are put into storage as of them being blown up in the OAV.  Also, most won't know what a newtype is, so I suggest you go to the site [www.gundamproject.com](http://www.gundamproject.com/) and find out what a newtype is.  One of the characters in this fiction is a newtype (won't tell who).  Anyway, enjoy the story and tell me about your comments.  Started: 3/28/00.  Completed: 4/12/00.

 

_Year: AC 199_

 

**_Characters:_ **

Heero Yuy - male from Colony 01 - Gundam Wing Zero

Duo Maxwell - male from Colony 02 - Gundam Deathscythe Hell

Trowa Barton - male from Colony 03 - Gundam Heavyarms Kai

Quatre Raberba Winner - male from Colony 04 - Gundam Sandrock Kai

Wufei Chaing - male from Colony 05 - Gundam Altlong

Zechs Merquise (Milliardo Peacecraft) - male from Northern Europe - MS Epyon

Lucrezia Noin - female from Italy - MS Lafayette

Tano Comino - male from Colony 04 - MS Columbia-Zero

Ralph Shumii - male from Colony 03 - Gundam Fortress

Locke Dabnerba - female from North America - MS Lafayette-Custom

Ambassador Lady Une - female from Germany

Relena Peacecraft - female from Northern Europe

Mariemaia Kushrenada - female from Colony 03

Jennifer Barton Kushrenada - female from Colony 01

Gryphon Inshida - male from Switzerland

 

**_Recap:_ **

            It's the year AC 199, three years after the true Operation Meteor was about to be carried out by the Barton Foundation.  Peace has ruled the United Earth Sphere Alliance, uniting the colonies and earth together.  The Gundams and Mobile Suits have been placed in a secluded area, used only if there is to be a war against a portion of the Alliance.  The Gundam pilots returned to their normal every day lives.  Heero Yuy is attending his last year of school, and still watches over Relena Peacecraft the new diplomat between Earth and the Colonies.  Duo Maxwell returned to his Sweeper group along with Hildre Schibeiker.  Trowa Barton rejoined his circus troupe vowing that he will never fight, unless he has to.  Quatre Raberba Winner took over his father's companies and his loyal Maganac Corps is stationed on Earth to act as a liaison between him and Earth.  Chaing Wufei joined the Preventer Corps, along with Sally Po, Lucrezia Noin, Zechs Merquise and Lady Une.  Now as peace is still in hand, stirrings of an opposition begin to make themselves known, wanting to return to the former glory of the Romefeller Foundation and OZ.

 

**Story:**

_Chapter 1- Stirrings of Rebellion_

 

            _Outer space, it's so quiet_ , Gryphon Inshida thought, remembering that a certain great pilot, formally known as the Lightning Baron said, around four years ago.  He rechecked his sensors in a stolen Leo mobile suit he had "acquired" from the hidden base where the Leos were stored.

            "Nothing on sensors," he mumbled to himself then glanced back out into the endless sea of stars.  He noticed a ripple in a patch of space and a dark shape formed, it's shape angular and crystalline.

"Lieutenant Inshida, status of mission," a crisp female voice commanded, crackling a bit from the interference of the invi-cloak the ship had.

"Point source of transmission," Gryphon commanded the Leo mobile suit.

"Source of transmission is from the _Galaxia_ ," the Leo said back to him.

Gryphon's lips curled into a satisfied smile as he confirmed that the cloaked ship was an ally.  "Leo mobile suit ready.  I've got twenty more back waiting behind the asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter.  Shall I call them in?"

"Acknowledged, reel them in Lieutenant," the female voice said, a hint of respect filtered through the speakers.

"Roger that," Gryphon said and picked up a small pad, and tapped a few buttons on it, "By the way, has Lieutenant Comino checked in from Colony 04?"

"Negative on that.  He radioed in an hour ago saying that he is having a slight problem with the Winner Corporation," the communications officer said.

"Thank you, Ensign Hiroshi, tell Colonel Kushrenada I will be taking two Tauruses with me to Colony 04.  Tell her that we need those Columbias and I intend to get them, even killing the head of the Winner Corporation if he does not agree," Gryphon said and shut off the communications to the _Galaxia_.  He sat back to watch the Leos he summoned head towards the ship and file into the bay of the massive ship.  _Looks like Colony 04, the pacifists are going to be paid a little visit_ , he thought as he grabbed the single control stick to the Leo and moved a lever that ignited his jet packs and sent him towards Colony 04.

                                    *                      *                      *

Quatre Raberba Winner stared at a balding man in his late fifties named Redford Perey.  Although his face showed no emotion he was burning with rage on the inside.

"You plan to use the metal alloys we collected from rebuilding X-18999 as more mobile suit production?" Quatre repeated, barely containing his anger.

"Yes, we can use the titanium to build some more of the Columbias, and I guarantee that half of the profit made will go to Winner Corporations since you are the ones who have the most stock shipment of titanium alloy and gundanium," a young man interjected, and Quatre identified him as Tano Comino, one of the few people born on this Colony, who wasn't a Winner.

"Why do we need more mobile suits, we have peace already.  Why do you want to build the Columbia models?" Quatre asked, hoping to convince them of their errors.

"You may agree that the Columbia is great for demolishing and blowing up big chunks of debris.  We can use that for the debris left around earth and more destroying the meteors floating near Mars, where they are having the terra-forming project," Redford said, tossing him some clear transparents of the plans.

"This looks almost like the zero plan," Quatre whispered to himself as he studied the layouts.  He felt greed and some dissatisfaction pouring out of the two men standing in his office.  He stood up from his desk and walked around it to face the two men.

"These plans look tempting, but I will need at least a day to verify it.  I will give you my answer in 1600 tomorrow.  Will that be satisfactory?" Quatre said, keeping the dread out of his voice as he noticed something on the transparents.  Looking up he saw a slight frown on Tano's face and a perfect poker face on Redford's.

"Yes, that will do," Redford said and walked swiftly out of his office followed by Tano.

Quatre sat back down at his desk and tapped in some numbers on to his computer.

"Yes, Master Quatre," the face and voice of the co-leader of the Maganacs, Rashid Kurama said, his voice a bit distorted since he was stationed on Earth to act as a liaison between the Winner Corporation.

"Rashid, I'm going to upload a copy of some plans.  Tell me if they look familiar to you," Quatre said and ran a scanner over the plans Redford had handed to him.

"By the god Allah, where did you get this?" Rashid breathed his face a mask of horror.

"A man named Redford Perey.  He said those were-," Quatre started then was cut off.

"-They are the plans for the powerful mobile suit Columbia-Zero, or known discreetly to we Maganacs, the Columbia, the killer of all who lay eyes on it," Rashid said breathing deeply.

"Rashid are you okay?" Quatre asked concerned for his dear friend.

"Yes, I am fine.  But, do not allow this Redford to continue with his plans.  Destroy it immediately, because if he is allowed to continue with his plans, whoever pilots the mobile suit, will suffer death from the internal of this mobile suit," Rashid replied, looking at Quatre with concern.

"Thank you my friend.  I will be in contact with you in around eight hours," Quatre said then disconnected the line.  He sat back, the leather on his chair squeaking as his back made contact with it.  _Who could have thought up such a dangerous weapon?_ He wondered, his gaze wandering over to the plans that Redford and Tano created.

                                    *                      *                      *

Duo Maxwell sat back in the small shuttle that belonged to the Sweepers Group, his home and life.  He glanced at his partner who was taking a small nap, her head lowered down.  He let his gaze wander to the many asteroids floating by their shuttle, and an occasional one would just barely miss them.  _Ah, I wonder how's Heero and the rest doing, we haven't talked much over the last three years_ , Duo thought letting his gaze rest back on his partner, Hildre Schibeiker.  Suddenly a small beeping startled him out of his thoughts.  He glanced at the control board for the shuttle and activated the sensors.

"What did the sensors find?" Hildre asked, fully awake and leaned over to look at the sensors.

"Twenty something Leo silhouettes moving away from an asteroid, destination heading towards _Mars_?" Duo questioned then tapped a few buttons.

"Aren't the Leos supposed to be in confinement somewhere in the inner planet region?" Hildre asked worried.

"Yeah, better head back to base and check in with Preventer Corps.  Maybe they know something about this," Duo said then added softly to himself, "besides, gives me a chance to talk to either Wufei or Heero."

"Aye, aye captain," Hildre said and pulled the small shuttle away from the asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter and headed towards the Sweeper Group's base that was on Earth.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 2- Kidnapped on Sight_

 

Heero stared outside the window to the St.MichaelAcademy's second floor, his expression neutral and looking bored.  He was internally grateful that this was his last year of school, and close to graduation.  He hated being around so many people, since he was a loner and liked to do things by himself.

"Mister Yuy?  Do you find something interesting outside the classroom?" the sharp voice of Senshi Otaku rang out, startling him back into the class.

"No ma'am," Heero said, keeping his voice low.

"Well, then, can you tell me at what base was the coup d'etat lead by Treize Kushrenada that eventually lead to the destruction of most of the Earth Sphere Alliance leaders?" Senshi Otaku said.

Heero stiffened at the onslaught of the memory that came rushing back at him.  He had killed the Alliance leaders four years ago, and afterwards had tried asking the wives, sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers of the Alliance leaders to kill him in revenge.  Each one had said no, and Mrs. Noventa especially said that she had expected this and it was not his fault.  That was a mission he did not want to repeat.

"It was the New Edwards Base," Heero whispered, as a pang in his heart reminded him of Dr. J, the one who gave him the order to destroy OZ, but had died himself sometime later at the hands of Quinze, one of White Fang's leaders.

"I am sorry Mister Yuy, can you speak up?" Senshi Otaku asked, slightly annoyed at the anti-social student.

Suddenly the bell rang, signaling the end of school.  Heero was glad, and left the room in a hurry.

"Hey Heero, why didn't you answer Otaku-Baku's question?" the voice of one of his classmates Locke Dabnerba asked.

Heero looked at the girl with cold eyes; "I am entitled to my own reasons."  He brushed past her and went straight to his dorm room.

_Fine, be that way **Gundam** pilot.  You and everyone will suffer at the hands of Jennifer Kushrenada_, Locke thought glaring at the retreating form of Heero.

                                    *                      *                      *

"The stars are sure nice, aren't they Trowa?" Catherine Bloom said, standing next to her brother, Trowa Barton.

"Yeah, especially considering we're on the Southern Hemisphere and in the night, while as the Preventer Corps, Heero, and the Maganacs are on the beginnings of night," Trowa said, removing his clown mask.

"Hey you were great back there bro, I mean with your acrobatics.  You sure did improve since last performance," Catherine said, grinning at him.

Trowa didn't comment as he craned up his neck to look at the stars that winked back at him.  He missed going into space, especially to his rebuilt Colony 03.

"What's the matter Trowa?" Catherine asked her light blue-eyed gaze resting on him.

"Space…" Trowa mumbled then sat down on a crate next to the lion cage.

"Oh…this has something to do with Colony 03 right?" Catherine asked, slightly disturbed by her brother's doleful mood.

"I just miss feeling the weightlessness of space," Trowa said crossing his arms over his chest, not looking at his sister.

"Hey Barton!  Line call from someone named Noin," an energetic voice said from one of the trailers assembled near the cages where the animals were kept.

"Noin?  Isn't she part of the Preventer Corps?" Catherine asked, casting a sideways glance at Trowa.

"Yeah, I told her to keep some tabs for me on the Colonies," Trowa replied then walked towards the trailer that housed the communications between places.

Catherine looked surprised as Trowa walked off.  _He seems so distant, what's up with that?_ She thought her gaze never leaving his back.  Out of the corner of her eye she noticed someone crouching behind some bushes.  _Who's that?_ She wondered and approached the person who was absorbed at studying every move that Trowa made.  Suddenly three dark figures surrounded her.

"Miss, you will come with us," one of the figures said, her accented voice had a clipped alto.

"Shumii, next time watch your back," another of the figures said and Catherine saw the person crouching around the bush rise up and his eyes seem to regard her with surprise.

"My…Catherine Bloom, such a pleasure of meeting you again," Ralph Shumii said, and removed the dark infrared goggles that were on his eyes.

Catherine gasped as she recognized him.  He still had some of the youthful look she had seen when she was just around eight and in a shelter.  Ralph was the bully of the shelter and hated her because she was the only one that stood up for the smaller kids and he couldn't beat her up.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, narrowing her light blue eyes in anger.

"Trowa Barton, the Gundam pilot of Heavyarms Kai.  He is one of the menaces to Project Totality.  He will be eliminated soon," Ralph taunted and gave a sinister smile as he saw the shocked look reappeared on Catherine's face.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Catherine threatened and made a move to warn Trowa.  Immediately she was seized by two of the three people dressed in full black.

"Ah, Catherine, it wouldn't be wise to warn him.  I guess Jen will have an extra package when we leave.  Take her away to the shuttle," Ralph said, snapping his fingers at the three figures.

"Trowa!" Catherine yelled, hoping that he could hear her and struggled against the iron grip the two dark figures held her in.

"Knock her out, we can't have the whole circus on our backs.  We'll be leaving in ten minutes," Ralph said gruffly.

The last thing Catherine saw was a fist coming straight towards her temple then blackness.

                                    *                      *                      *

Trowa looked up from the communications console as he heard someone yelling his name.

"Trowa, is something the matter?" Lucrezia Noin asked, her image through the communications vid was slightly blurred and static.

"Don't know, but someone just yelled my name…ah, guess it was nothing," Trowa replied after a few moments of focusing his hearing to the outside.

"Okay, so you don't know anything about the stolen mobile suits?  All right, sometime before you bunk down, can you check with Duo?  He said he had some information for you," Noin said and Trowa heard the background noise of typing.

"Roger that.  Trowa out," Trowa said and disconnected the line.

Suddenly there was a furious knocking to the communications trailer and Trowa saw a disheveled young man rush in.

"Trowa, Catherine's been kidnapped!" the young man exclaimed waving a piece of flimsy in the air.

"What…" Trowa breathed, as he felt slightly dizzy.  He straightened himself out and snatched the flimsy away from the young man.

_To: Trowa Barton-_

_Quite the ladies man aren't you my boy?  Catherine seems to hold a very high opinion for you.  I'm guessing you do too, for her.  So, if you want to see little old Cathy again, I suggest you come to Colony 03…alone.  See, by now, you might have found out that some of the mobile suits you Gundam pilots have hidden so well were stolen.  No problem with that, it's just Lift Knife taking them off your hands.  By the way, you better say a fond farewell to Heavyarms Kai, it's gonna be in the stars._

_Sincerely,_

_Ralph Shumii_

Trowa squeezed his eyes shut and crumpled the flimsy in his fist, angered and furious.  _Damn!  Why does it have to be Shumii, I thought he died fighting around nine years ago_ , he thought as he felt tears creep to the corners of his eyes.

"Barton!  What's with the commotion?" a deep voice said, slightly hinted with anger.

"Ringmaster Weaver, I'm taking leave right now, I don't know when I'll be back," Trowa said suddenly as a cold shell wrapped around his heart that had a void.

"What?  You can't leave now Barton!" the Ringmaster said as Trowa brushed pasted him and the young boy that gave him the flimsy.

"You think Catherine had any choice?" Trowa yelled back at him stalking towards a small motorcycle he kept near his trailer.

He hopped on it and jammed his helmet on and sped away, leaving a small crowd of his fellow circus troupe standing and staring at him with horror and amazement for his defiance against their employer.

"Damn stupid boy.  I should have fired him," the Ringmaster muttered.

"Sir, Catherine was kidnapped," the young boy whispered.

Ringmaster Weaver looked at the young boy in surprise and remembered that Catherine had told him that Trowa was her brother.  He angrily left the trailer brushing past some clowns and trapeze artists.

                                    *                      *                      *

Duo landed the small shuttle without a hitch.  He unstrapped the crash webbing he had around him and grinned at Hildre.  "See, told ya I have no trouble," Duo said, smirking at her.

"Yeah, well I'm going to confer with Howard to see what he could make out of the mobile suits that are missing," Hildre replied and rose up to leave.

"Oh, Hildre tell the guys that I'm gonna be making a detour to Preventer Base.  I'm gonna check in with Wufei and the others to see what they also think of this security breach," Duo said then ran down the post-flight checks on the shuttle.  He let himself grin slightly as he saw Hildre walk from the shuttle through his window.  He liked her, but was too chicken to admit it.  _Ah, stuff it Duo, you're just getting to your own nerves if you don't admit it_ , he heard the little voice in his head say.

His eyes locked on to the read-outs from his post-flight check and noted with satisfaction that they were all green.  He got up from his seat and exited the small shuttle.  Looking around he saw his friends in the Sweepers run around, some holding parts to a shuttle or repairing parts of their base.

"Hey, Tomas!  Do ya know where I stuck my motor bike?" Duo asked one of the technicians running around.

"Yeah, Howard put your wheels in Garage Four.  He said it was junk," Tomas replied.

Duo raised an eyebrow at that remark, "Junk.  Tell him that his car's junk!  The old clunker won't even start!"

"Will do Duo," Tomas replied grinning at him before returning to his work.

Duo made his way towards Garage Four, being careful not to run into any wet paint signs on the base.  He sighed in frustration as he remembered Howard saying that the base needed a new coat of paint-and chose the color metallic blue-gray.  Duo remembered when he first saw a pipe with the finished color; it looked like throw-up compared to the rest of the base.  He saw his shiny black motorcycle parked in the middle of the garage, waiting for him.

"My little baby," Duo murmured, running a hand over its glossy surface.  He got on and slipped his helmet on and flipped a dark visor over his vision.  Everything was tinted to a darker color and he started the bike.  He released the brake handles and his bike roared out of the Sweepers Base.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 3- Target Acquired_

 

Relena Peacecraft glanced at her watch and tapped her foot on the ground slightly annoyed at the delay of the bullet train.  She was the Vice Foreign Minister of the Colonies and did not like to be late.

"Relena if you keep on doing that you will wear your shoes down," the voice of her bodyguard said, making her turn around in surprise.

"Dana when did you get here?  Aren't you supposed to be waiting in the car?" Relena asked the young petite girl.

"I've received a call from Field Marshal Tragati; there is a problem with the mobile suits," Dana said gravely.

Relena looked at her, her face betraying no emotions, but her eyes held one of surprise.  "So that means my trip to Nairobi is canceled?" she asked even though she suspected the answer.

"Yes.  We are to go to Paris, the Preventer Headquarters Base.  That's where the Alliance is going to meet," she replied then turned on her heel and walked towards a sleek black limo.

"Well, at least we're only two hours away from Paris," Relena mumbled to herself, a bit annoyed at her sudden cancellation of her vacation.  She followed Dana Jenkins to her car.  _Just what is going on with the mobile suits that could have the_ _Alliance_ _shaken up?_ She wondered as the car drove to a major highway that connected to the city of Paris.

                                    *                      *                      *

Heero jumped at the sound of a beeping, waking him from his sleep.  He felt something hard on his lap and realized that it was one of his textbooks.  He glanced at his watch and noticed that it was close to eleven-thirty at night.  The beeping came again and he saw that it came from the computer in his room.  He saw black letters form on the screen and it spelled out a single message: [ **Wing Zero will be eliminated** ].

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a single red laser dot, moving near him.  The dot crawled on to the table then shone onto his chair, finally it moved over him to his left chest where his heart was.  As the red dot settled in the area, Heero dove out of the way and heard the bullet smash through his window and impacted the chair he was sitting on.  He grabbed his handgun out from the mattress of his bed and crept quietly to look out the window.  He noticed someone hidden in the trees around St. Michael's Academy.  He saw the figure drop from the trees and run quickly to the girls' section of the dorm rooms.

"No doubt that the hunter will come looking to see if her prey is dead," Heero muttered to himself as he opened the window as a ruse.  He positioned himself in the shadows of his dark room and set the safety off of his handgun.

                                    *                      *                      *

Locke Dabnerba grabbed her books and walked quickly to the boys' dorm rooms.  Anyone seeing her would assume she was going to be having a little study time with one of the graduating class men.  _But, they are just all fools.  Just hope that Wing Zero is truly dead_ , Locke thought to herself, _otherwise things are going to be very messy_.  She stopped in front of Heero's door and knocked.  When she received no answer she gently opened the door and flicked on the lights to his room.  She expected to see a dead body draped in front of the computer console and had prepared herself to scream at the sight, hoping to fool the officials and curious people that she was coming in to study with Heero and found that someone had killed him.  What she saw was no one and a window open.

"Where did he go?" she muttered to herself, closing the door behind her as she approached the window and looked out.

Suddenly she tensed as the faint audible click of a gun cocked and ready to fire.  She heard a voice say behind her, "Turn around slowly, Dabnerba."

Locke turned around her hands gripped into fists at her sides.  She wasn't surprised to see Heero pointing a gun at her; ready to fire a single bullet that would end her life in an instant.

"So Wing Zero, you've escaped," Locke said casually crossing her arms over her chest and leaned into a casual stance.

Heero raised his eyebrow a fraction as he noted her stance and posture.  She didn't looked like someone who was afraid to die right now.  He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, she had something up her sleeves, he could tell.

"You know, you can put that gun down, I was only trying to joke around with you," Locke said her voice dripping with honey as she approached Heero, who kept his handgun steady on her.

"Who are you and whom do you work for," Heero demanded and stiffened as Locke put a hand around his, the one holding the gun, her hand icy cold as the Arctic.

"You already know my name.  As for whom I worked for, well…" Locke trailed off, and cracked her neck to get a sore muscle unknotted.

Suddenly she twisted her hand on Heero's grip and Heero felt spasms of pain shoot up his right arm, the one holding the gun.  He dropped the gun and clutched his right arm towards his chest and glared at Locke.

"Lesson one Wing Zero, you should have shot me when you had the chance," Locke said and launched a barrage of kicks and blows towards Heero, intending on taking him down.

Heero blocked the blows ignoring the pain of his sprained right wrist.  He ducked as Locke delivered a kick that was supposed to slam him into the wall, knocking him out.  Taking the opportunity he jabbed at her to her stomach and she lost her center of balance and fell to the ground.

"Very good Wing Zero.  Too bad you're not that good," Locke said, wiping some blood that dripped down her split lip.

She sprang back up and feigned with a few punches.  Heero avoided them but realized that it was a ploy.  He felt the wind get knocked out of him as he was slammed face first to the ground of his dorm room.  Heero saw stars then felt Locke's cold hands pin him to the ground by his neck.  He also felt one of her knees dig into his lower back, preventing him from using his legs to launch a counter attack.  He tried to twist his head to the side to look at her, but felt that her grip was like an iron bar around his neck.

"You are a good adversary I dare say Wing Zero, but not that good," Locke's voice breathed into his ear, making some of his hairs on the back of his neck stand up, "any last words you would like me to pass on to Relena Peacecraft before I kill her?"

Heero noticed his gun laid within his right hand's reach, hidden from Locke's view.  He made a reach for it and felt the pain shoot up as he grabbed the discarded gun.

"Yeah, go to hell and stay there," Heero said a dangerous edge in his voice.  He pointed the gun to Locke's upper back, wincing as the pain intensified in his hand and pulled the trigger.  Suddenly the pressure on his lower back and neck was gone and he heard a thump as Locke fell to the ground beside him.

He quickly stood up and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to get the cold feeling away.  He glanced over at Locke and saw a pool of blood form around her.  Her eyes were lifeless and stared up into nothing.  Something whitish caught his eye hanging from Locke's dead body.  Heero bent down and picked it up.  It was a note.

_Targets to be eliminated:_

_Heero Yuy-Wing Zero pilot.  Location at St. Michael's Academy_

_Relena Peacecraft-Vice Foreign Minister.  Current location, should be enroute to_ _Paris_

_Zechs Merquise-Epyon pilot.  Location_ _Paris_ _Preventer Base-bomb implanted set to go off at 0:00_

            Heero crumpled the note in his fist.  He felt a slight resentment towards the former ace, but respected him as a highly prolific mobile suit pilot.

"So, she's already has the place hooked up to blow," Heero muttered as he turned off the light, letting the moonlight stream into his dorm room, giving everything including the dead body a glow.  He uncrumpled the note and read it again.  He felt a slight pang of worry when he crossed Relena's name.  She had always meant something to him, but he couldn't say it to her.  _Emotions are the weakness to mankind_ , he recalled his former mentor Dr. J saying to him.  He was an assassin, a killer, a soldier.

He quietly gathered up his things that he needed into a small duffel bag and leaped out of the window, landing softly as he could.  He knew that it would be only time before they found out that Locke was missing and so was he.  He ran towards the woods surrounding the posh academy.  Deep into the woods he saw a small glint of metal shine against the moonlight.  He stopped in front of it and brushed off the branches and leaves sitting on top of the metal.  He found his motorcycle, a bit dusty and scratched in some places, but he decided everything looked normal.  Heero sat on the bike and grabbed the handlebars.  Immediately a covering encased him inside the motorcycle and he sped off, destination: Preventer Base, a few miles away.  The time was 11:42 PM.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 4- Sandrock's Return_

 

Quatre woke with a start.  He realized that he had fallen asleep in his office and his computer had shut down by itself when not used for a long time.

"Ugh, damn.  What time is it?" Quatre mumbled to himself and glanced at the digital clock set up next to his computer.  It read: 11:45 PM-Preventer Earth Standard Time.

He felt some papers shuffle from his lap and drop to the ground.  He flicked on his desk light to the lowest setting so not to hurt his eyes and bent down to pick up the paper.

"The Columbia plans…" Quatre muttered as he picked up the plans dropped to him earlier.  Suddenly a small paper dropped out of the pile and landed in front of Quatre.

"What is this?" Quatre wondered as he unfolded the paper and read it.

_To the Head of the Winner Corporation:_

_I see that you do not approve of the_ _Columbia_ _plans, and think its part of the zero system.  You do not know how close you are to the truth.  It's tough that your Maganacs told you about the legend of these suits.  Since you will not agree, then you will be eliminated along with your colony.  I know that you have an empathic link with others and this has woken you up.  But, you are too late my former friend._

_Sincerely,_

_Tano Comino_

_PS.  You will know me better as Telemahs Carson, Quatre._

Quatre felt something in his mind begin to stir.  He looked outside into the blackness of space and saw three mobile suits; one Leo and two Tauruses bring their guns online.  He reacted immediately and pushed a button that sounded a general alarm through out the giant colony.  The lights to his room immediately flicked on to life and Quatre dashed out of his seat and ran out of his office heading towards a private hanger bay.  _My Sandrock, you are returning to battle_ , Quatre thought as he realized that his Gundam, which he had kept, not putting it in storage, was the only defense the Colony had against a mobile suit attack.  No one knew that he had kept his Gundam except for Trowa.

"Mr. Winner where are you going?  We need to get you to a safe place immediately," one of the security officers interrupted his quickened pace, stepping in front of him.

"It's okay Iol, tell Security Chief Lanridge to get the civilians to the bomb shelters.  Calm them down," Quatre replied and hurried along.

"But sir!  You need to get to a shuttle so we can send you to a safe place!" Iol yelled at him.  Iol signaled to his men to follow Quatre, their guns drawn.  "This is Falcon, target is not listening, requesting the use of force," Iol said into a comlink.

"Damn.  All right, if he resists, shoot him.  He must not be allowed to get to the Columbia mobile suits or his Gundam," the voice of Tano said, frustration evident in his voice.

"Roger that.  Falcon out," Iol said and followed his men, drawing his handgun.

                                    *                      *                      *

Quatre glanced behind him and saw nothing.  He had a feeling that someone or some people were following him and their intent was not friendly.  _Tano was right, I do have empathic abilities.  I never knew that before; only after Heero blew himself up did I feel his pain rush through me_ , Quatre thought and made a slight detour to a small armory.  He grabbed a handgun that was loaded with eight bullets and kept it in the right pocket of his slacks.

"Where did he go?" he heard one of his pursuers ask.

"Damn, okay.  We'll look down this hall," he heard his security guard Iol say.

_He's in league with Tano and possibly Redford_ , Quatre thought with dread.  Suddenly he knocked over a machine gun that was hanging on the rack.  Its clattering noise echoed throughout the halls.

"Wait!  I heard something!  He's headed towards the armory!" Quatre heard Iol yell.

Quatre ran out of the armory room and down a hall marked Hanger Bay 04.  He heard shots fire and knew that they saw him.  _Aw hell, I'm a sitting duck here_ , Quatre swore in his mind as he ducked behind a corner and avoided a spray of bullets coming towards him.

"Quatre Raberba Winner, surrender now to Tano Comino and he might spare your life and that of your Colony," Iol yelled to Quatre.

"I trusted you Iol.  How could you do this to your colony after serving my father before me?" Quatre asked flinching as another round of bullets smashed into the wall that was right angled to where he stood.  He took out his gun.

"Times change Winner.  People change," Iol laughed, "I'll give you you're last chance."

Quatre glanced at the door that was in the middle of the hall marked Hanger Bay 04.  He thought about his choices.  He could take a risk and open the door swiftly and try to make it in before they gunned him down, or he could just surrender to Iol and traitorous men.  _I have to save the Colony.  The mobile suits are just going to come back and destroy it if I just surrender now_ , Quatre thought fiercely.

"Well Winner?  What's your choice?" Iol yelled.

Quatre didn't answer as he leaped out of his cover and shot off two bullets at the four men stationed on the other end of the hall.  He quickly opened the door to the HangerBay and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder.  He shut the door and locked it, hoping that the bulletproof door would hold.  Quatre dropped his handgun and felt the back of his shoulder.  He looked at his hand, covered in blood.

There was a slight rattling as the door creaked.  _I don't have much time_ , Quatre thought as he made his way up his Gundam, thankful that he had refueled it and set all of it's weapon capabilities to the max about a few months ago.  He sat in the chair, a bit dusty from not using for three years, and grabbed the two joysticks that maneuvered the Sandrock Kai's arms.  He buckled himself in and leaned back wincing slightly as the chair's cushion came in contact with his injured shoulder.  He started up his Gundam, and saw the two hundred degreed three-panel windows came into view, slightly static at first then focusing.  He saw that Iol and his men had broken down the door and were shooting at his Gundam, their bullets bouncing off harmlessly.

"Open bay doors," Quatre commanded, feeling slightly regretful that Iol and his men were going to die by vacuum.

He placed both hands on either side of his seat where there were two handles.  He shoved them forward and felt his Gundam speed off; it's rocket boosters maxing out.  Immediately he did not like what he saw.  Two of the Columbias were taking potshots at helpless civilian shuttles trying to escape, the Leo was just watching them and the Tauruses were making passes but not firing at the Colony trying to scare the people.

"This is Quatre Raberba Winner, you are attacking my home Colony without any reason.  I only ask once that you leave us in peace," Quatre said over the single line communication.

"Well, well, Winner so you did keep Sandrock Kai at your Colony all this time," Tano's voice came back taunting him, "I'm glad that your newtype abilities told you that we were coming."

"You have already built two of the Columbias!  Why didn't you tell me, Telemahs?" Quatre asked, using Tano's real name.

"Telemahs died when you were young Winner.  It's Tano now, but still the same grudge he held against you all these years," Tano said, his voice angry, "I knew that you would not approve of the Columbia design since you were a victim of the zero system.  But you do not understand the full power of the zero system, and you will never get to."

"Tano I ask again, please leave us in peace.  Colony 04 does not want to quarrel with you," Quatre said trying to ignore the fiery pain of his shoulder.

"Sir, why are you doing out here?" the voice of Security Chief Lanridge said, worry evident in his voice.

"Lanridge, don't worry about me.  Send a tight beam message to Preventer Headquarters, tell them that if they can, get some of their mobile suits up, we're going to need some help," Quatre said, then linked off from Lanridge.

"How sweet, getting Preventer involved.  You know that they will be missing some of their mobile suits.  Tauruses, attack!  Target Sandrock," a mocking voice interrupted him.

"Gryphon Inshida, stand down," Quatre heard the angry voice of Tano reprimand the mocking voice.  He saw one of the Columbias break away from shooting down civilian shuttles to take a whack at the Leo.

Quatre returned his focus on the two Tauruses coming at him their guns blazing.  _Great, I warned them_ , Quatre thought darkly as he moved Sandrock's arms, which held his twin heat scythes, extended in length from the originals.  He shot forward ready to do battle for his Colony.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 5- Shots of War_

 

Duo looked around at the people gathered around a small meeting room.  He had noted that Chaing Wufei stood alone slightly away from the rest of the group.

"So you are saying Duo, that the stolen Leos were headed towards Mars Colony?" Zechs Merquise asked, bring Duo's attention to the former ace pilot of OZ and Romefeller.

"Yeah, they looked like tiny lemmings, want me to elaborate on their flying positions?" Duo said sarcastically, yawning a bit.

Zechs glared at the former Gundam pilot, and gave him a look that said _watch your mouth smart-ass_.  He turned his head to face the rest of the small group assembled, "All right, some of the Leos were stolen and Colonel Sally Po just reported that a lot of Tauruses were stolen.  That leaves what mobile suit is next?"

Duo glanced sharply at the door to the meeting room as it creaked open.  His mood lifted up as he saw Trowa Barton enter, looking slightly exhausted from the lack of sleep and a bit haggard.  His mood immediately dropped lower than before as he noticed Trowa's dolefulness.

"The Gundams are targets for the next attack," Trowa announced, fingering some paper he held in his hand.

Duo stared in shock as he took in Trowa's announcement _.  What?  The Deathscythe Hell targeted again?_ He thought as he felt an old memory dredged up in him.  It was around four years ago, when his Gundam was still the plain old Deathscythe.  He had witness its destruction and right back there and then couldn't handle it.

"Are you sure about this?" Chaing questioned, ever so cool and calm.

Trowa just glanced at him, his eyes burned like cold ice.  He tossed them the paper he had been fiddling in his hand and Duo made a reach for it, but Noin grabbed it before him.

Noin was silent as she read the paper then glanced up at Trowa.  Duo was surprised to see hints of tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry Trowa, we'll get a team to the Gundams as soon as possible."

"Let me see that," a young girl demanded, and Duo glanced at a red head kid, emerging behind of Zechs.

Duo stiffened a bit and saw that Chaing and Trowa had too, but not too visibly.  Mariemaia Kushrenada was the former head of the Barton Foundation and had planned three years ago to carry out the true Operation Meteor.  Duo remembered that none of the Gundam pilots had trusted her that much since she turned to their side.  _Well, she is a kid.  But a deadly one that is_ , he thought as Mariemaia took the letter-flimsy out of Noin's hands and scanned it with her blue eyes.

"What the hell is he doing back here!" Mariemaia gasped, cursing softly to herself.

Duo raised an eyebrow at her fiery mouth, surprised that at ten years of age, she had the nerve to start mouthing off.  He saw her glance sharply at Trowa, who looked impassive and returned her stare.

"You know this Shumii character?" Noin asked, trying to calm down a slightly hysterical Mariemaia.

"Yes, he is the one that twisted me when I was young along with Dechim.  That man has a hell of a lot of nerve to come back and show himself," Mariemaia spat, folding her arms as a cherubic angry look came over her features.

"All right.  Wufei, you Trowa, Duo and Zechs go to the Gundam storage area and try to stop Shumii's advancement.  I think he just declared war on the Earth Sphere Alliance," Noin said.

"It's not him that is declaring war.  He isn't that smart or bold enough to go that far.  He is working for someone," Trowa countered, giving everyone in the room a cool stare especially Mariemaia who shrank back slightly in fear.

"Okay. Find out who is declaring war and we will settle this," Noin said, "move out!"

"Yes ma'am," Zechs, Trowa, Duo and Chaing replied in unison and left the room.

In a part, Duo was glad that he was going to see his Deathscythe Hell, his little baby, but another part of him said that he wasn't too sure about fighting.  _Great Duo, you're sounding like Quatre again_ , the little voice in his head told him.  He glanced at his teammates for this small mission and realized that he just got stuck with the anti-social bunch _.  Aw, great.  No one to talk to and these guys just do their work like soldiers_ , Duo thought as he followed them to a long-range shuttle.  The time was 11:47 PM.

                                    *                      *                      *

Noin sighed as she rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.  She didn't want to send the Gundam pilots and Zechs on the mission, but she had to under orders.

"Aunt Lucrezia?  What's wrong?" Mariemaia asked, her small hands wrapped around her neck as she sat down in front of a console.  Mariemaia treated the Colonel like a mother, and tagged along wherever she went.

"Nothing Marie, it's just that…" Noin started then trailed off staring at the vid screen that showed a small but well armed shuttle lifting off of Preventer Base, destination towards where the Gundams were hidden.

"You're worried about Uncle Zechs right?" Mariemaia guessed, giggling a bit.

"What?" Noin asked, appalled, "where did you get that idea Marie?"

Mariemaia laughed, her high voice filling the small room, "Takes a genius to figure that one out Aunt Lucrezia."

"Ma'am!  Colonel Sally is back from her recon mission to the Leo storage One.  She requests an audience with you," a young soldier burst in, interrupting Mariemaia's laughter.

"Thank you Lieutenant.  Marie, you want to see Sally?" Noin asked.

The young redheaded girl nodded excited.  Noin stood up and headed towards the main briefing room, where Sally was.  The time was 11:50 PM.

                                    *                      *                      *

A shadowy figure watched ambassadors and senators stream into the Paris Alliance Base, right next to Preventer Base, for their midnight meeting.  _I'm lucky that the bomb is encased in the street right in the middle of those two buildings.  With luck, they will demolish both at_ _12:00 AM_ _.  All I need to do is to wait.  Wing Zero will not be able to save all that he holds to himself_ , the shadowy figure thought as she stepped deeper into the covering of trees and bushes, near the two buildings.  She stepped into a patch of moonlight and it illuminated her face, shaped like a model's.

"At least Locke Dabnerba transferred all her memories into me before she died at the hands of Wing Zero.  We are a hive mind, we are human replica robots, we are Locke Dabnerba," the young lady said, her eyes flashing with different colors.  She glanced at her digital watch and saw the time was 11:58 PM.  _Two more minutes before the start of a new era_ , Locke thought grinning to herself.

                                    *                      *                      *

Relena was bored as she continued to listen to Field Marshal Tragati drone on and on about the missing mobile suits.  Even though it was important, she felt like she needed a few more cups of hot coffee to keep awake.

"Dana, what time is it?" she whispered to her bodyguard, who appeared to be in a trance, her eyes wide open and she looked like she was paying her full attention to the Field Marshal.

"Huh, what?  Oh, sorry Miss Relena," Dana said startled, as she blinked her eyes a few times.

"You were sleeping?" Relena asked, stifling a giggle as she had thought her bodyguard was paying attention.

"Yeah.  My former commander taught me how to sleep with my eyes open," Dana replied, glancing at her watch, "It's 11:59 PM, close to midnight."

"Thanks.  I wonder how long will this meeting last?" Relena questioned to herself quietly.

                                    *                      *                      *

Heero raced through the streets of Paris, ignoring the protests of many bystanders as he ran his motorcycle through the sidewalks.  He glanced at his watch and saw that it was a minute before midnight.  _Damn!  Why won't this thing go any faster!_ He thought furiously as he gunned the throttle to his bike.  He screeched to a halt in front of the Preventer and Alliance base and noticed a crowd of security guards patrolling both buildings.

"Hey, aren't you the kid that ran through the sidewalks with your motorcycle?" a deep voice said behind him, startling him.

"No," Heero answered flatly as he approached the Alliance building, wishing that the security guard would leave him alone.

"Hey, kid!  You can't go in there, you need a pass!" the security guard yelled as he ran towards the door.

Heero suddenly felt two iron grips latch on to his arms pinning him to where he was.  He struggled against two security guards then heard a distinct beeping sound from his watch.  12:00 AM.  Suddenly the ground ripped up beneath him as the bomb went off, scattering people everywhere.  Heero went flying across the street and landed with a bone jarring crunch and he felt his sprained wrist break.  Heero looked up through hazy pained filled eyes as he saw both buildings tilt and collapse towards each other.

"I've failed…" Heero whispered to himself, as he watched the buildings crumble from the force of the blast, too shocked and numbed to do anything.  Heero got up, and ran towards the blast site, not caring if he hurt himself anymore.  He had to find Relena.

                                    *                      *                      *

Locke grinned sadistically as she saw the buildings crumble and fall like toy blocks knocked over by a child.  _On to plan B_ , she thought as she crept away.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 6- To the Battle at Colony 04_

 

            "Well, the Gundams seem to be fine," Duo declared as he floated around in a spacesuit.

"Not all of them.  Look here, there is a small hole in Epyon.  If I were to take it our to space, then immediately I will be sucked out of that small hole," Zechs said, holding a patch-glue to fix the small hole.

"Well, yours is a hybrid of the Gundams right?" Duo asked, taking a closer inspection of his Deathscythe Hell.

"Yes, all the better for more damage to be inflicted on it," a deep voice said, startling the four pilots as they turned around.

"Shumii," Trowa growled, and Duo could see the pilot of the Heavyarms Kai shaking with barely contained rage at the newcomer.

"Who the hell are you?" Duo demanded, floating towards the person who was in a red spacesuit instead of their own blue-black ones.

"That is none of your concern.  However, I cannot allow you to get your Gundams," Ralph said, and Duo frowned as a grin came over the man's features.

"You and who's army," Duo shot back.  He noticed that the rest of his team was silent.  _Come on guys; back me up here_ , Duo thought, then turned around.  He saw none of his team.

"Looks like your friends abandoned you," Ralph taunted laughing maniacally.

"Not quite," Trowa's voice said from the Heavyarms.  Duo saw one of Heavyarms' hands move between him and Ralph, shielding him.  He took that as a cue to get a move on into his Gundam.

"Since when did you become protective of your friends, Barton?" Ralph asked, floating away from the barrier that was the Heavyarms Kai's hands.

"Where is Catherine," Trowa stated flatly, ignoring Ralph's questions.

"Now I can't tell you that Barton, you'll have to find out.  Just remember our little game we had so much fun nine years ago.  You'll have so much fun playing it.  Remember, Colony 03, alone," Ralph taunted then floated to a shuttle and the shuttle sped away.

"So what was that about?" Duo asked as he settled into the Deathscythe Hell, feeling the familiarity of the Gundam's controls return to him.

"Nothing," Trowa replied, "nothing I want to talk about right now."

"Chaing did you contact Preventer?" Zechs' voice came over the frequency.

"All I got was static," Chaing replied, a slight bit of concern in his voice, "you think something happened to them?"

"Maybe," Zechs replied.  Just then there was a burst of static and Duo saw a harried looking man appear in front of his communications console in his Gundam.

"This is Security Chief Lanridge.  If anyone could hear us, we request assistance!  Colony 04 is under attack by rebel citizens.  We have no means of defense except for a Gundam!  Please if anyone could help us, we request assistance," the harried man said, blood flowing down a deep cut on his face.

Duo stiffened as he saw the man's face replaced by an external camera outside of the Colony showing the Sandrock Kai battling swarms of Leos and Tauruses and four unknown types of mobile suits.

"All right, Wufei and I will head back to Preventer, to see what we could come up from these recent mobile suit stealing.  Duo you bring Wing Zero to your Sweepers Base, just in case this Shumii character returns and decides to have his sick fun of blowing up this storage facility.  Trowa you accompany him.  We will try to send out another team of suits to help Colony 04 as soon as possible," Zechs instructed.

"I'm sorry, but I'm heading to Colony 04 right now," Trowa said, and Duo saw him throttle his Gundam away, headed towards the Colony.

"He never listens to orders does he?" Zechs commented.

"He only listens to his heart, a warrior and friend's heart," Chaing replied.

"All right, I'll be in contact with you guys in a couple of hours," Duo said as he slaved Wing Zero to his Deathscythe and shot off towards the Sweepers Base, towing along the majestic Wing Zero.

                                    *                      *                      *

Quatre slashed at another Leo who was about to bring its cannon to bear on him.  _Where are they coming from?_ He wondered as he heated up his twin scythes then threw them at two Tauruses who were sliced in half by his blades.

"Is it too much for you Winner?" Quatre heard the mocking voice of his former rival Tano say.

"Why are you attacking your home Colony?  Can't you see that your people are suffering?" Quatre asked, launching two missiles at a pack of Leos and Tauruses, bunched together.  He flinched as the missiles exploded sending bright light and energy towards him.

"Colony 04 disrespected me.  They are pitiful weak excuses for mankind.  You however…you are my enemy!  You deserve a much more painful death," Tano said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

Quatre froze as one of the Columbias came straight towards him.  _Move!  Move!_ He heard his conscious tell him.  Quatre reacted, yanking the two joysticks, but he felt the Columbia hit him straight on, sending him forward then backward as his restraining belt prevented him from flying through the cockpit window.  Quatre gasped in pain as he impacted his seat, mostly on his injured shoulder.

"Oh, I'm sorry Quatre, did I hurt you," Tano taunted, then laughed as he watched the Sandrock reel in space.

Quatre closed his eyes against the pain, willing himself not to fall into the dark oblivion called unconsciousness.  _I have to defend my Colony_ , he reminded himself.  He opened his eyes and righted himself, glaring with his blue eyes at the Columbia.

"Sir!  We can take him down right now, just give the word," a female's voice interjected through the communications line, and Quatre turned his head to see that the Tauruses and Leos were lined up in a semi circle their beam guns drawn and ready to fire at him.

"No, do not interfere," Tano commanded and Quatre saw the mobile suits back away, "so Quatre, you seem a little down.  Was it that my spies caught you before you went to battle, say like a small injury to your left shoulder?"

Quatre glared at the Columbia, not answering.  _Iol must have had a secret communication with him_ , Quatre thought as he lifted up his twin scythes, ready to battle.

Suddenly there was an explosion, and Quatre turned around to see most of the Tauruses and Leos that had surrounded him were blow away, their residue fireballs fading away to show Heavyarms Kai, closing it's missile ports, and raising all four of it's gattling guns up to bear on the remaining mobile suits.  Destruction rained down upon the remaining mobile suits, obliterating them into tiny atoms as Quatre saw Heavyarms Kai fire from all four of it's gattling guns.

"Those who have laid eyes on a Gundam shall not live to see it," Trowa's voice came over the single frequency monotone.  Quatre saw Trowa point all gattling guns at Tano's Columbia.

"Looks like your call for help did come in after all Quatre.  I will be seeing you in the near future," Tano said, and with impossible speed from the mobile suit, shot off, followed by the other three Columbias and a single Leo.

Quatre looked at the retreating form of his rival with saddened eyes.  He turned his gaze towards his Colony and was shocked at the damage it had taken.  He moved towards the hanger bay and motioned Trowa to follow him.  _Why does it have to start this way?  Wars never have good outcomes_ , he thought as he felt the after rush of battle wash through him, making him exhausted.  It didn't help that he had an injury and was losing blood also.  Quatre landed his Gundam and guards who were loyal to him and the Colony immediately surrounded it.  Quatre descended the Gundam and felt that his legs were like jelly.  He almost fell over before a pair of strong hands supported him.  Quatre turned his head slightly to see his long time best friend Trowa hold him up.

"You are injured," Trowa stated, noticing the deep color of his once clean white shirt, stained with his own blood.

"Yeah…" Quatre replied, then passed out.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 7- Desperate Measures_

 

            Heero ran up a slightly mangled flight of emergency stairs, careful not to step on any of the bodies littered throughout the stairs.  He reached the fifth floor, where the Alliance was having their conference.  He opened the door and ran through a hall, avoiding puddles of water where wires were hanging into it, electrifying the water.  He opened the double doors to the conference room and stopped dead in his tracks.

"What happened here?" Heero mumbled to himself as he surveyed the scene.  Tapestries were strewn everywhere, and chunks of the high ceiling had come crashing down onto some of the senators and ambassadors seats, killing them instantly.  He heard moans and cries for help as he picked his way through, careful not to step in the various big holes where the ceiling to the floor below could not support the heavy weight.

"Relena!" Heero yelled out, feeling that something in him stir up, long forgotten.  He realized that he wasn't that cold or emotionless as the boy that had taken up a mission to destroy OZ and Romefeller four years ago.  He was regaining his humanity and care for others.

He turned around as he heard the shouts of rescuers rushing into the building, trying to get the injured out before the building collapsed any further, or worst, come crumbling down forever trapping all the survivors.

He closed his eyes as he remembered what Relena had told him she usually sat during the meetings.  It was in the center, second row in the front.  Heero opened his eyes again and looked for that spot.  There were a few medium sized slabs of ceiling in the area where she sat.  _Aw hell, don't tell me I'm too late_ , Heero thought furiously as he made his way towards that spot.

He tossed some of the slabs, ignoring the flaming pain of his broken wrist until he finally uncovered Relena.  Her eyes were closed and her left arm seemed to be at an odd angle.  He quickly put two fingers below her jaw, near her ear and was relieved that she still had a pulse, but it was weakening fast.  Heero struggled to get the slabs that were covering her and found another body next to hers, dead.  Heero struggled to remember the name of the person and realized that it was Dana, Relena's bodyguard that had saved Relena from getting crushed by the falling slabs of ceiling, by taking the crushing blow for herself.

"Young man!  Did you find any survivors?" the voice of a medic cried out, and Heero turned around to face the medic.

"Yes, Vice Foreign Minister Peacecraft is alive, but for how long I do not know," Heero replied, and continued to free Relena.

Suddenly another pair of hands reached in to uncover some more slabs and Heero glanced to his left to see Chaing Wufei, tears in his eyes.  Heero blinked as he looked at Chaing with surprise.

"Colonel Po might not make it.  She has a thirty percent chance of making it out of the coma she is in," Chaing said, freeing the last slab.

Heero felt a slight pang as he remembered the fiery soldier, who had straightened him out when he was blaming himself for the deaths of the former Alliance leaders.  He was surprised that Chaing cared for the Colonel.

Chaing held up a slab as Heero carefully carried Relena out from where she had laid.  He put her on a stretcher and a medic rolled it away, very much glad that at least some of the Alliance leaders were alive.  Heero leaned heavily against a slightly demolished wall, exhausted and tired.  A throbbing in his right wrist reminded him of his brush with Locke Dabnerba.  He narrowed his eyes as he stalked off, intent on first healing his wrist or get a brace for it then getting Locke's employer for what he or she did to the Earth Sphere Alliance.

                                    *                      *                      *

Duo was glad that he had put Heero's Gundam Wing Zero down in a heavily wooded area where no one could see it.  He powered up his Deathscythe Hell and swung the scythe at an Aries mobile suit, cutting it in half.

"Man, just who are these guys?  Do they keep attacking at random?" Duo questioned as he saw his friends evacuating the Sweepers Base, which had come under attack by an unknown force of about twenty Aries.

He folded his wings together in front of him to avoid getting blown back by a super charged beam cannon.  He cracked a smile as he remembered Howard commenting that his Gundam looked like the devil or something remotely to that.  _Well, Howard my friend, I'm not called the God of Death for anything_ , Duo thought as he unleashed two missiles that hit two Aries dead on, exploding them to oblivion.

"Duo!  Where are we to go?" the voice of Hildre came over his line.

"Go to the Maganac Base and tell them that Duo Maxwell sent you.  If they ask for confirmation, tell them that Quatre and I helped them defend their home town before retreating," Duo replied as a squadron of carriers ascended from the base.

He noticed an Aries lining up his beam rifle to shoot down the carriers.  "Oh no you don't," Duo muttered and slashed at the Aries, which exploded.

"See you in a few Duo, and be careful!" Howard's voice came over the frequency, as the carriers roared away.

Duo faced his opponents, now trimmed down to seventeen Aries mobile suits.  _Well, now…the odds aren't too bad_ , Duo thought grimly as he readied his scythe.

                                    *                      *                      *

Tano walked into the Commons Room aboard Colony 03, feeling so small compared to the wide expansion of the area.

"Lady Kushrenada requests your presence," a nasal voice said, and Tano glared at a small person who was the butler.

"Yeah, tell her I'm coming," Tano snapped at him.

"Actually, you don't need to do that, Tano," the high melodic voice of Jennifer Barton Kushrenada rang out.

Tano looked beyond the butler to see a young woman, dressed in a skintight dress, walk towards them.  He wouldn't say it, but he felt attracted to her.  He had heard that she was a newtype, with extraordinary powers and was abandoned and disowned by her family.  He had also heard that she was the late Treize Kushrenada's cousin and the grandaunt of Mariemaia Barton.

"What is the status report for Project Totality?"  Jennifer asked, smiling at Tano.

"We were stopped by Sandrock and Heavyarms Kai, but we managed to get all of the Columbias, all ten of them out of Colony 04 without anyone noticing them.  Life Knife reported into say that he has failed to get rid of the Gundam pilots and they have acquired their Gundams.  The bombing mission lead by Locke Dabnerba was successful, and the casualties from both of the buildings are numbering up.  Locke's original form was killed by Wing Zero, so it means she had three more hive minds of her left.  She reports that she has successfully infiltrated the main global news network.  Gryphon is leading an attack on Cancer storage base as we speak.  We should have about three-quarters of the Earth Sphere Alliance's mobile suits within our grasp in less than one hour.  Also, currently we are cleaning up the Sweepers Base, those nosy scavengers," Tano reported, then saluted.

"Very good Tano, rest for now until all have come back.  Then we shall attack with the full force of Neo Romefeller," Jennifer said, her laughter echoed throughout the Commons Room.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 8- Meeting Point Nairobi_

 

Quatre slowly opened his eyes, seeing everything as a fuzzy blur.  He blinked them a few times and the blurred lines faded away.  He noticed a female doctor looking at some medications; her back turned away from him.

"Iria?" Quatre croaked out, startling the doctor.  He swallowed a few times to return moisture to his throat which tasted like sandpaper.

"Quatre, you're awake," his sister said, smiling at him as she approached his bedside.

"Yeah, how long was I out?" Quatre asked, trying to move, but wincing as he felt his shoulder protest against the movement.

"Don't move around, little brother.  The bullet went in pretty deep.  Any deeper and you might have lost the ability to use your left arm forever," Iria replied, easing him down to his original position, "you've been out for at least six hours since you went in for operation."

Quatre nodded, "How is the Colony?"

"Pretty bad shape.  There was a whole bunch of leaks and Security Chief Lanridge is getting maintenance teams to work on them twenty-four hours non-stop.  Right now, the whole Colony thinks you’re a god to save them from utter destruction," Iria said giving him a grin.

"Oh, great," Quatre muttered under his breath.  He hated it when people would portray him as a god or some sort of reverence figurehead.  "How long do I have to stay in bed?" he asked, hoping that he could go check on his Gundam.

"By the rate you're recovering, I say in about four hours you can try to walk around, but don't take it too heavily.  Trowa's been worried about you and so have the Maganacs," Iria replied then checked her watch, "I'll be back in about three hours to check on you.  Meanwhile, I want you to get some rest.  Remember, doctor's orders."

"Iria, is my Gundam all right?" Quatre asked, hoping that his sister would know.

"You and your Gundams…you act like it's real," Iria laughed, "I think your friend is repairing it currently.  So your little Sandrock should be fine."

"Thanks," Quatre said as Iria left his room.  He settled down into his covers then realized that he had to call Rashid so he wouldn't destroy anything while worrying about him.  He reached over to a portable communications console wincing a bit as the stretch applied pressure on his injured shoulder.  He tapped in a few numbers and Rashid's haggard face appeared on the screen.

"By Gods of Allah, Master Quatre do not scare us like that again!" Rashid said, barely containing the rage in his voice.

"I'm fine Rashid.  You don't need to worry that much about me," Quatre replied, hiding a grin as he saw his loyal Maganacs crowed around the communications screen, trying to say a hello to him.

"You should have called us for help Master Quatre," Abdul second in command of the Maganacs said.

"I am sorry, my friends.  It won't happen again," Quatre reassured them.

Suddenly there was a new face that shoved all of the Maganacs except for Rashid off the screen.  "Hey Quatre, how ya doing?" Duo's perky voice said.

"Duo?  When did you get there?" Quatre asked, puzzled at the pilot of the Deathscythe Hell.

"Uh, there's something you have to know," Duo said grimly, his expression was like something big happened.

"It looks like we have a rebellion back in our hands," Trowa's voice interrupted whatever Duo was about to say.

Quatre looked up to see his friend walk in, a few smudges of oil on his face.

"Hey Trowa, just to tell you, Preventer Base and the Alliance Paris Base was just bombed.  The media don't even know who's responsible and how many casualties, but they are piling up by the numbers," Duo said grimly, and Quatre noticed that both of his friends' expressions were etched into a deep frown.

"Hmm, okay, Duo?  Did you get in contact with Heero?  He's the expert spy we have in hand," Trowa asked his gaze seemed to be at a far off distance.

"Can't get through to Paris.  It looks like the whole area is cut off from communications since the bomb was place at a line, which would disrupt every incoming or outgoing call.  I'm planning on heading into Paris to see if Noin or any of the leaders of Preventer are still alive so I can talk to them," Duo replied, then glanced off screen, "Wait, looks like the survivors of the Paris bombing are headed to Nairobi Base."

"Okay, tell them I'm coming as of now," Trowa said and disconnected the line.

"I'm coming with you," Quatre declared, making a move to get out of bed.

"You are staying here," Iria said, poking her head in the room, "you aren't going back to battle in your mobile suit until you have my certification."

"But…" Quatre started.

"You sister is right.  You are injured and if you keep moving and take hard hits in your Gundam, you will injure yourself even more," Trowa interrupted him, and walked out of the door.

Quatre looked at his sister, hoping that she could just let him go.  But something he saw in her eyes warned him not to push it.  _Stop acting like a stupid kid Quatre_ , he thought furiously to himself.

                                    *                      *                      *

Mariemaia looked on worriedly seeing the steady rise and fall of Noin's chest.  _She looks so pale.  Auntie, are you going to be all right?_ Mariemaia thought to herself, feeling tears creep to the corners of her eyes.  She squeezed them shut and the tears fell down her face, making some spots on her dark blue dress suit.

"Hey, you okay little one?" a deep voice startled her, making her turn around to see her 'Uncle' Zechs.

"Yeah," Mariemaia sniffed, "Why did this happen to Aunt Lucrezia?  She protected me from the falling ceiling.  Why couldn't I protect her?"

"You did the best you could Mariemaia," Zechs said, as Mariemaia buried her face in the folds of Zechs' uniform.

Zechs glanced outside as the dark Nairobi night, then back to where Noin laid, just breathing as she was in a coma.  He feverantly hoped that she would be all right, for his and Mariemaia's sake.

                                    *                      *                      *

Heero stared into a green console board that showed the current count of mobile suits.  Almost half of the mobile suits were stolen and the numbers were dwindling fast.  He clenched his teeth in frustration and felt like lashing out at someone or something to cool his anger.

"Somebody's up early.  It's what, 4:30 AM.  Take it easy Heero, or else you're going to break the status board.  Then what do we look at?" he heard Duo's voice said.

Heero turned around, startled.  He took an once-over at Duo then returned his gaze back on the green board.  He pressed a button on the console and the status disappeared to show a global news network.

"I heard what had happened, how is Relena?" Duo asked, coming over to stand next to Heero to watch the news.

"Doctors say she's going to make it," Heero replied, his eyes narrowing as he saw the anchor of the newscast blabber something about the Gundam pilots fault.

"Hey!" Duo exclaimed as he saw a shaky film of his Gundam battling the Leos, "what the hell?"

"As you can see here, this mobile suit, dressed up like a vampire or something out of the book of the dead, is battling our Aries.  This weapon of destruction is slaughtering innocent lives.  Please, if anyone has any information regarding this mobile suit or any others that we have shown, contact us as soon as possible.  Please help Neo Romefeller bring peace once and for all by destroying these weapons of war," the newscaster said, and Heero stood in shock as he saw the newscaster's face…Locke Dabnerba.

"Uh, Heero, you all right?" Duo asked, concerned for his friend.

"What is she doing there…I thought I killed her," Heero muttered, the punched the button to shut off the screen.

"Neo Romefeller…" Duo whispered, as something in his mind stirred, digging up long forgotten memories.

"Attention all personnel, please report to the auditorium for a briefing of the current situation!" a high voice blared out from the base-lined communication systems throughout the base.

Heero glared at the blank screen one more time before stalking off to the auditorium, with Duo following behind him.

                                    *                      *                      *

Duo noticed that most of the Preventer population that was usually present during a meeting was at least cut down in half as he sat down next to Trowa and Chaing in the small auditorium.  Heero sat next to him, his demeanor was blank and unemotional.

"That blast sure did a lot of damage," he muttered under his breath as the lights dimmed down.

"The mobile suit shown here is of a new design called Columbia.  It incorporates the Zero System with an add boost of speed, agility and defense," Ambassador Lady Une's voice amplified throughout the auditorium.

Duo leaned forward to see the plans for the mobile suit flash, and a giant 3D holographic projection of the completed version rose up above the people seated in the auditorium.

"Isn't the Zero System dangerous?" a fresh-faced young officer said, raising his hand.

"Yes.  From past results we have seen the Zero system affect minds of pilots, turning them into mindless drones who just want to kill," Lady Une replied.  She stepped away from the podium and Duo saw Rashid take the stand.

"We Maganacs are familiar with this type of weapon or a variation of it.  The type of Zero System was used in our mobile suits before some of our young pilots died from the inducement it had," Rashid said and pressed a button that started a film clip.

Duo glanced over at Trowa and saw that his face was a perfect poker as the clip showed the recent battle Sandrock Kai had with the Columbia.  _And I thought that guy was worried.  Damn, I hope Quatre is okay, he looks like he's taking pretty hard hits against that mobile suit.  Well of course he's okay, I just talked to him a few hours ago.  Duo my man, you are losing your memory too fast_ , Duo thought as he returned his gaze back to the clip.  There were a few more lunges by the two mobile suits, and then the film went static.  He saw Lady Une return to the podium, and the lights were brought up as someone shut down the film clip.

"I'm sure that you have all seen the news about our mobile suits battling a group called Neo Romefeller.  We need a team to infiltrate the news network base…Duo Maxwell, is your team assembled?" Lady Une said, and Duo felt all eyes on him.

"Uh, my team's assembled, just give the word and we're off," Duo said grinning sheepishly at the sort of surprised gazes his friends gave him, "What?  I'm good at this stuff, cloak and dagger…comes being a Sweeper all your life."

"All right, your team will leave at 0600.  We expect a report by 0730, or a confirmation of assistance," Lady Une said, then she glanced at the rest of the crowd, "you are all dismissed.  We will begin planning and evaluating Neo Romefeller's next targets.  Also teams will be sent out to retrieve the mobile suits still in storage."

Duo got up from his seat, stretching a bit.  He glanced at his watch and noticed that it was 4:45 AM.  "I'll see you guys later, I'm hitting the sack until 5:30," Duo yawned and headed towards his temporary bunk in the Nairobi Base.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 9- Escaping the Colony_

 

Quatre woke up, startled that he had fallen asleep.  He glanced at the digital clock next to his hospital bed and saw that it was 5:30 AM.  There was a soft knocking to his door and it opened to show his sister.

"I'm glad that the tranquilizer worked," Iria said, and Quatre narrowed his eyes, furious at what his sister had done.

"You did what?!" he shouted.

"Trowa and I agreed that you would have gone after him to help in any way you could, so he told me to knock you out.  You should be lucky you have such a caring friend," Iria countered, her green eyes blazing.

"But I'm fine!" Quatre shouted, then lowered his voice, "I can move my arm, see?"  He sat up in his bed feeling a wave of dizziness but ignored it as he moved his shoulder in a full circle.

"Yes, I could see.  Now pick this up," Iria said, and handed him a small child size ball that was marked three pounds.

Quatre gritted his teeth as he lifted the ball up, pain shooting from his left shoulder.  He finally let it go with a huff.

"See, you can move your arm, but you cannot lift anything at the moment," Iria said smugly, giving him a predatory grin.

"Can I at least visit my Gundam to see how it is," Quatre asked, none too happy with his sister's diagnostic.

"Yes, you seem to be doing well with walking around," Iria said, the irony evident in her voice, "I want you to take it easy for now."

"You seem to be in a good mood today," Quatre said sarcastically.

"It's a doctor's job brother…you keep getting injured and I keep the irony coming," Iria said and left the room.

Quatre glared at the door then he lifted the covers off of him and tentatively stepped to the ground, shivering a bit as the icy cold floor came in contact with his bare feet.  He stood up and immediately felt weak all over.  _Come on, I have to do this!  Preventer and my friends might need me!_ Quatre thought as he steadied himself.  He noticed on a cart a fresh new outfit, his khakis, white buttoned shirt and brown loafers/sneakers.  _Great, I guess I'll have to walk to get it_ , Quatre thought wiry as he got on to his feet.  He walked slowly towards the cart and picked up his clothes and walked to the refresher station attached to his room.  He was determined to prove his sister wrong and go help his friends.

Quatre came out a few minutes later and he felt refreshed and energized.  He touched the medical tape and gauze around his wound and it felt a little sore.  Quatre walked to the door and opened it.  _Good, no one in the halls_ , he thought as he closed the door quietly behind him and took a lift down to the hanger bay where he left his Gundam.  He was glad that it was still early in the morning and not too many people were awake.  When he got to the bay area, he noticed that there weren't any guards around.  _Hmm, must be shift time_ , Quatre thought as he crouched down next to his Gundam.  He quickly climbed up and opened the hatch that lead to the interior of the Gundam and to the pilot seat.  He noticed a black-blue flight suit and a helmet laying at the opening.  There was a note attached to the flight suit.

_Quatre-_

_I know that you're going to sneak out and help your friends, but I won't stop you.  You must know your own limitations; I cannot do that for you.  Just be careful and safe, my little brother.  I hope you stop an end to all these attacks, just like you promised father._

_Your sister,_

_Iria_

Quatre felt tears run down his face as he read the note.  He looked up and saw on an observation window his sister waving to him, smiling sadly.  He slipped on the flight suit and jammed on his helmet.  He turned and waved to her then disappeared into the Sandrock Kai.  A few minutes later, Quatre boosted the power to the Gundam and shot out of Colony 04, destination to Nairobi Base.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Everything he does is thorough_ , Trowa thought as he remembered his words bouncing back to him from a long time ago.  He watched Heero stare at nothing, his gaze blank as he sat next to Relena's hospital bedside.  Trowa's gaze went out to the window where two Gundams laid on their backs and one in flight mode.  Duo had opted not to take his Deathscythe Hell, fearing that its presence would entice a revolt or a wave of fear, when he left for his mission.  Before going, he had Wing Zero brought to the base so that if there were another attack on mobile suit storage, Heero would have it and not be wandering around.  Chaing had taken his Gundam Altlong as he was assigned a team for mobile suit recovery; he was also going to scout the Colonies area for hints of a massive force or anything out of the ordinary.  So far, they had recovered a few of the Tauruses, Leos, and Aries, but they were few in numbers.

Suddenly a general alarm sounded and a voice said over the intercom throughout the base, "Attention all personnel, we are under attack by unknown forces.  Report to your base or to your mobile suits."

Trowa heard the door slam and saw Heero walking towards him.  "Gundams?" Trowa guessed even though he already knew the answer.

"Yeah, time to find out who these people are," Heero answered, and hurried outside.

Trowa followed him, but stopped for a moment as he peered into a room where Zechs was talking with Mariemaia, telling her not to worry as he was outside in the Epyon.  He didn't really hate her, but he had a low opinion of her.  _Catherine, don't worry, I'm coming as soon as I can_ , he thought as he made a promise to himself to head straight to Colony 03 as soon as he was finished with this battle.  He knew that he was walking into a trap that Shumii had set up for him, but he had to go for his sister's sake.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 10- Only If…_

 

Heero climbed into his Gundam, feeling a rush of added power and perception, as he activated the Zero System that was in his Gundam.  _It's been a long time_ , he thought to himself as he felt that the Gundam became an extension of him, meaning whatever body part he moved, the Gundam's body part moved.  He flexed his broken wrist a bit, feeling pain emit from it.  It was in a brace, and he didn't want it in a cast.  _I can endure the pain, I did it before_ , he thought to himself.  He gunned the throttle and felt the G-forces press against him as his Gundam, in flight mode, shot straight up into the air.  He pressed a few buttons and felt Wing Zero change to its 'standing-human' form.  The white wings spread out behind him, and he held his double barrel beam cannon in front of him.  He looked around for the approaching enemy when suddenly; his sensors picked up the enemy.

"They've collected that many mobile suits!?" he heard Zechs exclaim through their one frequency channel.

"Full scan on all opposing forces," Heero commanded his mobile suit and after a few seconds of bleeping noises the results were placed in front of his eyes.  He narrowed them as he counted over sixty of the three different types of mobile suits.

"They seem to think this is main battle," Trowa observed as Heero landed his Gundam onto the ground, next to the Epyon and Heavyarms Kai.

"We've got confirmation that there are three Columbias.  Leos, Aries, and Tauruses, do not attack the Columbia, let the Gundam pilots handle it," Lady Une's voice blared out.

"Lady Une, you seem to hold us in a high position, thinking that we could defeat those Columbias all by ourselves," Zechs said, irony evident in his voice.

"I expect you three to get the job done," Lady Une replied, a hint of her destructive personality coming through.

Heero didn't answer as he throttle his Wing Zero and shot off to face the opposing forces.  He aimed his beam cannon and fired off a blast that quickly obliterated two Leos and three Aries.  He noticed Trowa landing next to him and emptied one of his gattling guns, the bullets pouring down on various mobile suits.  A bit farther away was the Epyon, lashing out with its heat whip catching two Tauruses and slicing them in half.  Heero pointed his beam cannon to his left and shot off a bright yellow energy beam that destroyed six of the ten Leos that were aiming for him.  He shot from his head the small gattling gun that was installed there and destroyed the remaining Leos.

"This is taking too long," Heero muttered and detached the beam cannon.  Immediately his beam saber launched itself into his right hand.  He activated the beam and its shining green color sprouted from the pommel of the saber.  He throttled his Gundam and slashed his way through, cutting left and right; explosions filled the air around him, sending shards of hot metal everywhere.  Suddenly a blast from one of the Columbias sent him crashing to the ground.

"Damn!" Heero cursed, as he picked himself up, and faced the lone Columbia who was holding its beam cannon on him like the pilot's life depended on it.

"You are surrounded, surrender and hand over your Gundams," a voice said, and Heero recognized it as one of the people affiliated with Neo Romefeller, Ralph Shumii, "Ah, Trowa I wouldn't do that, see if you killed me, you have no way of knowing whether or not your sister is alive or in poor condition."

Heero put a restraining arm on one of Heavyarms' gattling guns and shook his head no.  "You think that we would surrender our mobile suits," he said, raising his head up a bit in a challenge.

"No, from past records, you just might blow it up, lest risking Wing Zero falling into enemy hands, Heero Yuy," Shumii replied, taking a step towards the three Gundams positioned in a small circle.

Heero frowned as he thought up all his options before self-destructing his Wing Zero.  He realized that he had two choices, to destroy his Gundam and take out a few along with it, or to surrender to Neo Romefeller.  He positioned his thumb over a small metal capsule…the self-destruct button.

                                    *                      *                      *

Chaing throttled his Altlong, feeling the power course through the Gundam.  He didn't want to stay at the Nairobi Base, because seeing all of those injured from the blast reminded him of what had happened to his home Colony 05, and his family.  He wanted to be alone.  _Nataku, I need your strength, help me through this time.  Help me reach my full potential_ , he thought as he kept his eyes on the sensors for anything out of the ordinary.  Inside of him he knew that his dead wife, who nicknamed herself after the goddess Nataku, would want him to stop worrying and not become his honor-bound himself.  A faint smile appeared on his lips as he recalled something that was said to him just before he took up the Operation Meteor mission four years ago.  _You must not let yourself become what your wife became.  If you do, you will fall like a sapling breaking in the winds of a typhoon_ , he recalled the words of Master O, the creator of Shenlong and Altlong.  He was furious back then, thinking that the Gundam scientist had insulted his dead wife.

"Well, well…what do we have here…a Gundam," a grating voice spoke over his channel and Chaing chastened himself for not paying attention.  He turned around and faced a mobile suit that looked like a cross between a Taurus and a Columbia.

"Identify yourself Neo Romefeller pilot," Chaing said, pointing one of his dragon flamers at the mismatched mobile suit.

"Allow me to introduce my self Chaing Wufei.  I am Gryphon Inshida and I like you to meet one of the newest mobile suits Neo Romefeller created, the Lafayette," Gryphon said, drawing out a long metal pole that had a small green energy beam attached to one of its ends.

"Looks more like a piece of junk," Chaing snorted, seeing patches around the mobile suit.

"Ah, but looks can be deceiving Chaing, you of all people should know that," Gryphon said and quicker than the eye could follow, two machine guns were on the shoulders of the mobile suit and shot off hundreds of deadly energy bullets at Altlong.

Chaing swerved to the side to avoid the bullets, and returned with an attack from his dragon flamer.  Hot fire spewed from the flamer and towards the Lafayette, when suddenly it stopped dead in its tracks, as a magnetic force field stopped the flame from getting to the mobile suit.

"You see, this suit has the combination of the Mercurius, your original Shenlong, a Taurus, and the Columbia.  Tread carefully Altlong, because you will become my prisoner," Gryphon taunted, and slashed at Chaing's midsection.

Chaing pushed a few buttons and detached one of the two dragon flamers he had on his mobile suit.  He drew from his back a twin beam trident similar to the one Gryphon was holding and there was a blue glow on each end of it.  He swung the staff downwards hoping that Gryphon would fall for the plan he had concocted.  He smiled grimly as Gryphon pinned his staff against him, their mobile suits eye to eye with each other.

"You see, you will not win this one Dragon," Gryphon mocked him pressing against Chaing.

"I don't think so," Chaing replied and brought up his dragon flamer in his left arm and its teeth clamped onto the back of the Lafayette's neck.  Chaing then activated the flame and it burst through, melting metal.  Then he pulled hard back on it and the head of the Lafayette mobile suit ripped free from its body.  Just then a small pod launched with incredible speed away from the useless suit.  Chaing tried to track it, but the speed of the pod was too fast.  He kicked away the Lafayette then sliced it in half and it exploded into a million pieces.

"Mission is finalized.  Reporting back to Base.  This is battle record 01 for the Neo Romefeller Uprising…Chaing Wufei speaking.  Nataku, you were right, acting on your own feelings and not getting overly honorable, I shall win this battle.  Your guidance helped me through Operation Meteor and will help me through this battle," Chaing said as he headed back to Nairobi Base.

                                    *                      *                      *

Duo was glad that it was night at Seattle, Washington, North America, it made his mission easier.  The city was still bustling with activity, but it was slightly toned down, and it made it perfect that it was a moonless night.  He felt at home with people talking his lingo and acting like him, after all, he was an American born on the soils of America.  He remembered that soon after he was born, his parents went straight to Colony 02, then abandoned him.  _No, now isn't the time to be dwelling on ancient memories.  I have to stay focused on the mission_ , he thought to himself as he signaled to two other Preventer soldiers that were hand picked for their skills in infiltrating and spying, to move on ahead of him.

"Chief, we go in by stairs or by the elevator?" a female named Torin Adams, asked, her face blackened to match the night.

"Leon and I will head the stairs, you take the elevator, and watch your back Torin," Duo replied.  Torin nodded her head and sprinted off to the elevators.

"All right, Locke Dabnerba's on the seventh floor.  I'm willing to bet that they've got the newscast as hostages, so it's fifteen minutes before their news program runs.  We've got to stop her before then," Duo stated, and saw his teammate nod curtly.

"They'll pay for messing with Preventer and the Earth Sphere Alliance," Leon Chizinski said slamming the palm of his right hand into the fist of his left.

"You can tell them later Leon.  Right now, focus.  Locke Dabnerba should be caught off guard," Duo chaisted him, then peeked around a corner of the stair well, checking for any guards or hostile enemies.  He saw none and motioned sharply for Leon to go ahead of him.

Leon did the same thing Duo did and motioned him forward.  The process took them to the seventh floor in less than two minutes.  Duo opened the door to the seventh floor and crept behind a giant pot of a tree-plant.  He peered through the leaves of the plant and saw two guards, walking left and right to a door marked Telecast Room.  He glanced at Leon who pointed to his eyes then beyond the two guards.  Duo looked beyond the two guards and saw Torin crouching behind another tree-plant.  He saw her glance at him and he nodded.  He heard the whoosh of two bullets being fired from silencer guns and the two guards fell to the ground with a soft thump, dead.  He got up from his hiding place and crept quietly to the door.

"I'm kicking it down, and we're busting in," Torin said, and before Duo could stop her she slammed down the door.

Immediately a few soldiers poured out from the door and Duo slipped by them.  He dove under the desk of the weather station as bullets pelted him.  He heard some screams coming from the hostages as the bullets barely missed them.  He glanced back and saw that Torin was caught and was being dragged in.  _Aw hell, damn that stupid girl!_ Duo cursed to himself.

"If you want her to live, come out with your hands raised in the air," Locke's voice echoed throughout the room.

Duo didn't answer as he thought about his options.  From what Heero told him, this Locke Dabnerba was a ruthless killer and very good at what she did.  _I can't let her keep spreading lies, but I don't want to endanger the lives of my teammates and the newscasters_ , he thought.  Suddenly there was an explosion of bullets and Duo peeked from where he hid to see some soldiers empty their machine guns on the sports desk.  Duo heard a thud of a body falling and closed his eyes in anger as he knew that Leon was dead.

"This is your last warning, commando," Locke said anger evident in her voice.

"All right, I surrender, don't shoot," Duo reluctantly said, and stood up facing Locke and her soldiers, dropping his gun with a clatter as he raised his hands and folded them behind his head.

"Oh, so they sent you Duo Maxwell, or should I say Deathscythe Hell pilot," Locke said an evil grin appeared across her face.

"Yeah," Duo said as he heard whispers coming from the hostages.  He realized that they've never known that he was the pilot of one of the Gundams.

"Good, then I won't be needing you any further," Locke said, addressing Torin as she was held in a choke grip between Locke's elbow.  She twisted her arm and Duo heard a sickening crack and Torin fell to the ground, limp and dead.

"You are sick," Duo muttered as the two soldiers lead him from his hiding position and towards Locke.

"It's what we do best," she said and Duo raised his eyebrows in surprise as her eyes flashed different colors.

"What are you?" he whispered, slightly afraid of her.  He felt his hands being bound in a tight rope and he was seated next to her.  A gun dug in the back of his neck and Duo heard the safety click off.

"You will be an example to those who oppose Neo Romefeller.  Let's see how Preventer reacts to this newscast.  We are on in four minutes, better prepare yourself Maxwell, you will die during this broadcast," Locke threatened then patted her hair and pasted a cruel smile on her face as she readied her notes.  Duo glared at her then at the hostages who looked hopeful yet saddened.  He gave them a wink and hoped that he had a plan to get out of this mess before he was terminated.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 11- Survival of the Odds_

 

Zechs knew that Heero was considering blowing himself up again in order not to let his Gundam fall into the enemy's hands.  _Maybe I should too_ , he thought as he brushed a few strands of his platinum blonde hair out of his eyes.  He was worried about his sister and Noin.

"Well, Wing Zero, what is your decision…blow us all to hell or surrender?" Ralph asked impatient.

Suddenly there was a flash and four of the Tauruses that were surrounding them exploded in a bright flash.  Zechs glanced to his left to see from the remaining smoke and melted metal to see Sandrock Kai, holding its heat scythes up and looked kind of pissed off.

"Heero won't be self destructing anytime, but you should leave this battle at once, Shumii," Quatre's voice blared over the communication frequency.

"Oh…Sandrock…I think we're enjoying ourselves too much here, go and play with the other mobile suits your size.  Better yet, go see your dear sister about your injury," Ralph taunted, waving a dismissive hand at Quatre.  He faced the three other pilots, "As for you three, I will be seeing you in the near future.  Trowa, remember, Colony 03 and you must come alone."

Zechs laid a restraining hand on Trowa's Heavyarms and said, "We'll get him later, Barton."  He saw Trowa turn his head away from him and walk over to where the Sandrock stood.  They had won this battle, but almost lost.

                                    *                      *                      *

Quatre winced as he heard Trowa's angry voice over their private communication, "Why did you come!  I told Iria to sedate you."

"Iria let me go, Trowa.  I had to help you guys, I sensed that you needed help," Quatre said as he tried to reason with his friend.

"Still-" Trowa started then was cut off.

Quatre was surprised to see a newscast vid pop out into the middle of his three-paneled screen.  _What is this?_ Quatre wondered and opened his mouth to speak but no words came out as his jaw dropped as he saw Duo, sitting next to a sinister looking anchorwoman.  Duo's head was bowed to the desktop and he noticed that his hands were bound behind him and that a gun was sticking not too discreetly in the back of his neck, the safety off.

"As you can see here, one of the pilots tried to infiltrate our news network and tried to assassinate our producers for putting this real information about them.  This Gundam pilot's name is Duo Maxwell, most of you know that he works with the Sweepers Group.  We are glad to say that this pilot's Gundam has been found, and you won't believe your eyes when we show this clip.  We'll be right back after this commercial break," the anchorwoman said, as her name appeared on the screen as Locke Dabnerba.

Quatre felt something inside him snap, "What the hell is this!  Some kind of sick joke?"

"It means that the infiltration team's failed," Zechs' voice came over, monotonously.

Quatre stared down into the control boards of his Gundam, as a boiling rage inside him, covered since the death of his father, started to break loose.  The only time he had felt like this was when he was under the influence of the Zero System, four years ago.  He never felt so helpless before; Neo Romefeller was playing all of them like cards in a game of chance.

                                    *                      *                      *

Duo looked out of the corner of his right eye and saw Locke grin sadistically as the camera shifted off of her.  They were on commercial break, he realized.  He had rubbed the rope on the chair that he was sitting in and need a little more to go before it snapped off.  He took a cursory glance at the guard that was holding the gun on him.  The guard looked like he was going to doze off any second _.  Good, this works to my advantage_ , he thought smugly.  He estimated that the commercials would usually take around three minutes and noted that only thirty seconds had passed.  He moved his wrist slightly as he finally heard the soft snap of the ropes breaking.  He looked at the hostages who were crying or staring blankly at Locke or at him.  He blew his bangs from his eyes and noticed that one of the hostages got the message that he was free.  He saw the person back away into the wall the hostages were told to lean on.

"You know Locke, if you kill me, it won't really matter to the public.  They just don't really approve of killings directly on the vid," Duo commented, closing his eyes and giving her a grin.

"I don't care.  I have my orders from Kushrenada herself and she demands that all Gundam pilots to be eliminated," Locke replied, staring at him coolly, "you seemed non plussed."

"Yeah, who is this Kushrenada?  Mind telling me before I die on national public vid?" Duo asked, counting that he had only one minute and thirty seconds before they were on again.

Locke didn't answer as she narrowed her eyes on him.  "You're free," she said coolly.

Duo tripped the guard that was holding the gun to his neck and grabbed the gun flying out of his hand.  He hit the butt of the gun on the man's head knocking him out.

"Get him!" Locke shouted, and Duo quickly shot two bullets that impacted the chest and navel of  the lone guard, sending him sprawling to the floor.  He then pointed his gun on Locke, his grip steady.

"I don't think you want to do that Maxwell," Locke said her voice dripping with honey as she stood up from her seat.

"One move Dabnerba and you are good as dead," Duo said, his eyes flashing with anger.

"You wouldn't kill a girl without a weapon," Locke said, trying to gamble time with him.  She stepped towards him.

Duo pressed the trigger and saw Locke fall backwards, the bullet entering the middle of her forehead.  "Those who seen me meet their Makers," he muttered as he pulled out a long distance comlink.

"Lady Une here," Duo heard the Ambassador's voice speak, slightly exhausted.

"Maxwell here, mission accomplished," Duo said then shut off the link.  He nodded at the hostages who stood up shakily, surprised that they were still alive.  He walked over behind the sports desk and pulled a dog tag from Leon's body and Torin's body.  _Just who the hell does Neo Romefeller think they are, and who's this Kushrenada?_ He wondered as he stood behind the camera, watching the head anchorman wipe tears from his eyes then start his report to the globe.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 12- Premonitions of a Battle_

 

Noin cracked her eyes open and felt like she was gunned down in a firefight then ran over by a monster truck, finally smashed into the side of a mobile suit.

"You feeling all right?" she heard Zechs' concerned voice to her right.

"Hey Zechs, you know me…can't get me down without a fight," Noin whispered, giving him a smile then coughing.  Noin was glad that Zechs was here, watching over her.  "How's Mariemaia?" she asked, hoping that the little Barton was safe.

"I'm here Aunt Lucrezia.  Uncle Zechs just brought me from seeing Aunt Relena.  She is hurt bad," Mariemaia's voice said and Noin was surprised to see the little red-headed girl, dressed in her uniform that she had worn three years ago complete with the half cape.

"The bomb was positioned between both buildings and just then the Alliance was having their meeting.  We are at the Nairobi Base right now," Zechs explained.

"No wonder this place looks familiar," Noin whispered to herself as she glanced around the sparse room, decorated only with monitors and one vase full of flowers.

"Who set the bomb?" Noin asked, trying to sit up.  She made it only to feel extreme dizziness take over her.

Zechs made a move to support her but she waved him away.  "We think it's Neo Romefeller, but don't know whom on the inside," he said.

"Neo Romefeller?" Noin asked, confused.

Just then Lady Une's voice burst out from the intercom system, "Attention, would all Gundam pilots report to briefing room A-12."

"I'll explain it later, you get some rest," Zechs said and walked out of her room.

"Noin?  Will you be all right?" Noin heard Mariemaia say.  She was surprised that Mariemaia had used her last name like others would.

"Yes, little one, I'll be fine," Noin said as she laid back down into her bed.  She felt sleepiness overtake her and let herself fall into a deep sleep.

                                    *                      *                      *

"All right, I called all of you here because each of you have a different story or experience or information on Neo Romefeller," Lady Une said giving each of the six pilots a glance, "Maxwell, what did you find from our news woman?"

"Well, she said that she works for Kushrenada, a she, but that's about it before I shot her," Duo said, then turned to Zechs as he drew a sharp breath, "What did I say something that caused you to inflate?"

Duo felt glares from all of the people in the room on him and he just grinned sheepishly.  "What can I say?" he said shrugging.

"Lady Une, do we still have the files on Treize's family?" Zechs asked, ignoring Duo, who looked miffed.

"Yes," Lady Une replied then tapped a few keys on the terminal console in the small briefing room, "where do you want me to stop?"

Zechs scrolled down until bypassing a whole bunch of people who were either dead, or distantly related to the Kushrenada-Barton-Dermal line.  He stopped at a picture and clicked on it, bring up a file that was named: J. Kushrenada.

"Who's she?" Quatre asked, glancing over Zechs' shoulder at a young lady about their age, with blonde-brown hair and gray-green eyes.

"She's the current survivor of all three families besides Mariemaia.  Her name is Jennifer Barton Kushrenada, the supposed grandaunt of Mariemaia, and one of the granddaughters of Dermail. Her whereabouts are unknown, but I had met her before, a long time ago when the Sank Kingdom was still alive.  She's been considered a psychopath and had these weird abilities called newtype abilities.  During one of the courts that I attended with my father, I heard from the spies that usually reported to him that her family disowned her and she was left on Colony 01 to die.  Apparently they were afraid of her powers, which are similar to when Heero and I incorporate the Zero System of our Gundams," Zechs explained then folded his arms across his chest frowning, "she seems the most likely candidate to launch this type of random attacks.  What else did you find out about her subordinates?"

Silence reigned the room.  Zechs looked around and saw that the five Gundam pilots had either a serious look on their face or a blank face.  He sighed and realized that the pilots, who have met their respective opponents, saw something personal in their battles.

"They have a new mobile suit design called the Lafayette," Chaing spoke up, changing the subject, "I've uploaded what Altlong scanned when I battled it."

Lady Une took the disk and popped it into the computer.  She blinked her eyes in surprise as she looked over the read-outs on the Lafayette.  "All right, we are having an official briefing with the other pilots at 1600 later today.  Until then you are dismissed," she said, and all six pilots saluted and left the room.  _This is going to get complicated_ , Lady Une thought as she looked at the technical read-outs for the Lafayette.

                                    *                      *                      *

Trowa wandered the darkened hallways of the lower levels of the Nairobi Base.  _What is wrong with me?  I can't even fight straight, and I'm letting my anger cloud my abilities to perform perfectly_ , Trowa thought to himself as he leaned against a wall.  He realized that he was letting his emotions break through a barrier he had for a long time.

"Those emotions of mine are what is causing this trouble.  I acted all with anger at Shumii for kidnapping my sister.  I acted in anger when Quatre was hurt," he whispered to himself.

He remembered Doktor S, his mentor and creator of Heavyarms and Heavyarms Kai, going up to him and offering a job as a Gundam pilot.  That was a couple days after the 'real' Trowa Barton was assassinated and he was still known as No-name back then.  He had accepted the job without a second thought, knowing that he was a soldier and soldiers don't back down on jobs.  He had taken the name Trowa Barton as his alias, and went along with Operation Meteor.  _The perfect soldier or assassin does not let their emotions get the best of them.  They are to be cold, calculating and very efficient at their jobs.  Are you willing to take the job?_ He remembered Doktor S saying to him.

"I cut communications and let myself become who I am today," he said to himself.

_Those who lay eyes on a Gundam shall not live to tell about it.  Those were my orders_ ; the hauntingly familiar words he said four years ago came bouncing back to him.  He narrowed his eyes as a cold shell wrapped around his heart.  He would return as the perfect soldier.  _Neo Romefeller will fall_ , he thought to himself as he walked swiftly outside, headed towards his Gundam.

                                    *                      *                      *

Tano Comino felt sullen and withdrawn as he sat in a restaurant in Colony 03.  Ever since he had extracted himself from the Columbia, he did not feel right.  He wanted more of its Zero System and craved to feel the awesome power run through his body.  It had made him invincible, and he wanted that power.

"Hey, Comino, what's the matter?  Kushrenada says the attacks are performing as expected so what's wrong with you?" a female voice said behind him and Tano turned his head to see a young woman with flaming red hair and piercing deep purple eyes.

"What's that your third form Locke?" Tano asked, as the lithe assassin sat next to him.

"Deathscythe destroyed my second form.  Damn those Gundam pilots!" Locke said bitterly as she took his drink and gulped down a bit of it, "What the hell did you order?  Vodka and Tequila straight up mixed?"

"Bloody Mary and Rusty Nail combo," Tano replied then snorted, "heh, you stink at achieving your goals."

"Watch your mouth Zero induced, I am a hive-mind cyborg and can kill you where you stand this moment," Locke said narrowing her almond shaped eyes to slits.

"Yeah, whatever, you wouldn't do that without angering little Jennifer.  I'll see your sorry sight later," Tano said and left the restaurant just as the bill came.

Locke huffed with annoyance as she realized she was stuck with the bill.  "Charge it," she muttered handing the waiter a card.  She suddenly reached out with her other hand and snapped the waiter's neck in half.  The waiter fell to the ground, dead and she stepped over his body and walked out of the restaurant.

Tano watch her walk away from the restaurant, having seen the whole scene, he felt a slight shudder creep up his spine.  He needed that power right now or else he would go crazy.  He ran towards one of the hanger bays on the Colony, where his personal Columbia model was stored.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 13- Reflections of the Soul_

 

Heero sat in front of computer console, typing furiously.  He was satisfied as he heard a beep signaling that he had completed a complete hacking into Preventer's computers without them knowing.  He didn't care that his morals were wrong, he just felt slightly suspicious that Preventer was hiding something from them.

"Bring up files on Locke Dabnerba while your at it Heero," a familiar voice said behind him and Heero stopped his typing and spun around, pointing his gun at a person wearing all black.  He winced as he held the gun in his injured hand.

"Hey, chill man, it's only me," Duo said, walking into the dimly lit room, and pulled up a chair next to Heero.

"What do you want?" Heero said, slightly annoyed.

"I want to find out who this Dabnerba character is, I mean, I don't think she's human," Duo replied, gauging Heero's expression.

"I don't think she is either," Heero said, which made Duo raise his eyebrows in surprise.  Heero typed a few letters in and a secret file came up.  He scrolled down until the name Dabnerba, Locke came up.

"Would you check that out…she's a hive mind cyborg!" Duo exclaimed pointing to a section on the screen.

"I suspected that she was cyborg.  Dr. J warned me about a certain project that the Earth Sphere Alliance was building back about five years ago.  People in that project had captured him and performed tests on him, making him half cyborg and half human," Heero said his eyes focused on the information that was scrolling from the computer.

"Ick, no wonder he looked kind of funny," Duo commented, and received a glare from Heero, "hey man, I was just only kidding.  Sheesh, no need to take it out on me."

"The question is, why did Preventer hide these files from us.  Better yet, why didn't they say anything about it?" Heero replied, as he brought up another file, this one named Kushrenada-Barton, Jennifer.

"Didn't Lady Une show that to us?" Duo asked, puzzled as why did his friend bring up her file.

"Cross-check with newtype information, sub-copy with Zero system of Wing Zero and Epyon," Heero commanded the computer to do ignoring Duo's comment.

"Confirmed.  Newtype are abilities enhanced over the course of time, mainly through the psyche.  A newtype is very powerful, and has exceptional abilities to control and influence human minds.  When in battle, a newtype has fast reflexes and quick timing on targets.  The Zero system, crossed with Wing Zero and Epyon, gives the pilot of the mobile suit same abilities with one exception, the pilot after long exposure, may fall into mental insanity," the computer said back after a few beeps.

"Cross with Columbia mobile suit," Heero said and Duo looked at him with a look.

"What's a Columbia?" Duo asked, confused.

"The Columbia is a mobile suit that uses the Zero system with an upgrade.  Long exposure to this mobile suit can mean certain death.  The Winner Corporation first built Columbia.  No known files or any Columbias exist today," the computer said in answer to Duo's question.

"Winner Corporation!  Quatre?" Duo exclaimed, having a hard time picturing the de-facto leader building such a hideous weapon of war.

"Just what I suspected," Heero said, as the information came up on the monitor, "we have to destroy those mobile suits."  Heero looked at the image of the Columbia on the screen, feeling a resolve to destroy the weapon.

                                    *                      *                      *

Quatre pounded a fist in frustration as he dropped a wrench.  _Damn!_ He cursed to himself, as he rubbed his left shoulder, feeling slight pain emit from the wound.  He couldn't lift a single thing with his shoulder out of commission, and he just barely managed to pilot his mobile suit to earth in time to save his friends from destroying themselves.

"Master Quatre, is something the matter?" Rashid said, and Quatre felt his hand on his shoulder.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong," Quatre replied as he punched the leg area of his mobile suit.

"This is about your injury I supposed," Rashid said gravely as Quatre turned around and leaned against the area he just punched.  He gritted his teeth against the pain as the shoulder came in contact with the mobile suit.

"How am I supposed to defend my friends and Colony if I can't even move my arm!" Quatre yelled none too loudly.

"Master, we heard shouting, are you all right?" one of the Maganacs came running towards them, followed by Abdul and Auda.

"I'm fine," Quatre said curtly then turned away from them angrily.

"Go back to your work, can't you see Master Quatre needs sometime alone?" Rashid said and waved them away.

"Please stay, I apologize for the way I acted.  I'm not myself right now," Quatre said as he turned back to face them, hints of tears in his eyes.  He realized that he shouldn't have acted mean towards his loyal troops.  They respected him, and he should repay that respect.

"It's okay, Master.  Things haven't been that all right since Neo Romefeller made themselves known and people are testy right now," Abdul replied, scratching the back of his head and grinning sheepishly.

"Yeah, like you ought to know.  You almost blew up my mobile suit when you tried to load the missiles on it!" Auda replied hitting him on the back of his head.

"Hey!  Watch it baldy!" Abdul said angrily and launched himself at Auda, who looked terrified.

Quatre grinned at the sight of his loyal friends fighting for no reason.  He knew that they were going to stop sooner or later.  Those two were like brothers.  He glanced over at Rashid and the other Maganac and they looked like they were coming up with a migraine.  Suddenly something caught his eye and Quatre looked beyond Rashid to see Trowa walking at a fast pace towards his Heavyarms Kai.  _I wonder what is Trowa doing?_ Quatre thought as he slipped away from his mobile suit and made a beeline to the Heavyarms Kai.

"Trowa where are you going?" Quatre asked as he reached the Heavyarms Kai and saw Trowa dressed in his black-blue flight suit, helmet next to him as he fiddled with a panel full of wires on his Gundam.

Trowa turned around, startled.  He narrowed his eyes and Quatre looked confused.  "This is none of your concern Quatre," Trowa said, and closed the panel with a click.

"You're going to face Ralph Shumii aren't you?" Quatre guessed even though he knew he was right.

Trowa didn't answer as he opened his cockpit hatch to his Gundam.  He sighed and turned back around to face Quatre, "I am going to rescue my sister, and destroy Shumii if you want to know.  Do not try to stop me Quatre, because I will have no hesitations in destroying interference by others."

"Be careful my friend," Quatre whispered as he backed away from the Heavyarms Kai as it blasted off into space.

Trowa looked back at the dwindling form of Quatre.  _I will, my friend_ , he thought as he continued his journey spaceward.

                                    *                      *                      *

"Why have you returned?" Jennifer demanded, rising up from her throne-like chair in the middle of an elaborately decorated room.

"It is a premonition I have, my lady.  The Gundam pilot called Trowa Barton will be coming here soon and I want to face off with him," Ralph replied keeping his eyes to the ground.

Jennifer looked beyond at the stars that turned as the station spun slowly.  "Your instincts serve you well, Shumii.  He is coming as we speak.  Go, face off, do you match, but I want him captured alive in any condition you want him to be, just alive," Jennifer said as an evil smile appeared on her cherry-red lips.

Ralph frowned; he wanted to be rid of his pesky rival, but didn't dare to disobey Jennifer.  He nodded and left, heading towards the hanger bay, where he had secretly built and stored his personal Gundam.  There were only two people that knew he had this kind of weapon him and his employer Kushrenada.

Jennifer smiled as Ralph left.  All is going to plan, she thought as she pressed a button on her throne-like chair.

"Inshida online," Gryphon's voice came back, slightly distorted as he was transmitting from Space Barge.

"This is Kushrenada.  I want you to complete Project Totality.  Release the cloaking device on the Colonies and Earth.  Get a distraction up so that the Gundam pilots and Preventer will head out to space.  Do not launch the mobile suits we have until I give the order, understood?" Jennifer ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Gryphon replied, as waves of respect came pouring through the distortion.

Jennifer shut down the link and rose up from her seat.  She stood by a giant window and looked out into the expansion and endless black water of space.  _Neo Romefeller will rise up from it's ashes, starting with the destruction of the Gundam pilots_ , she thought as she threw her head back and laughed.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 14- To Outer Space, Every One of Us_

 

"Ambassador Lady Une!  We've lost communications with Geneva, Switzerland!" a young newbie officer exclaimed, panic evident in his voice.

"Officer Reio, calm yourself down and repeat what you just said," Lady Une instructed, shaking her head a bit as she hated new recruits who always panic at the first sign of something wrong.

"Yes ma'am.  We've lost communications with Geneva, Switzerland and now with Beijing, China," Officer Reio replied, a bit calm now.

"Lady Une!  It seems we can't reach anywhere in the world.  And Space Force is sending a message by code saying that there are several-odd looking ball-disks each about the size of a shuttle hanging in orbit around the earth," a communications officer said, turning around to face Lady Une, while a hand was pressed against the headphone on her ears.

"Looks like Neo Romefeller wants to keep us on blackout.  Can the Colonies be reached?" Lady Une asked as she cursed to herself.  I should have ordered the attack on Neo Romefeller, but I don't know where, she thought as she banged a fist on a green console.

"Negative on that Lady Une.  Only Colony 03 can be reached," the communications officer said, "wait…communication coming from Colony 03."

"Put it on and record it," Lady Une commanded as she stood in front of a small screen her arms folded across her chest.

"Ah, Ambassador Lady Une.  Allow me to introduce myself," Jennifer's face appeared slightly distorted from the cloaking devices as she smiled.

"I know who you are you freak," Lady Une muttered.

"Good then," Jennifer replied ignoring the snide remark Lady Une made, "You are probably wondering why you can't communicate.  Well, those things up in your orbit are cloaking devices for communications.  Project Totality will be complete, Ambassador.  You and the rest of the earth will bow down to a new era."

"Lady, there are six carriers entering the atmosphere and headed towards us.  I estimate that each is carrying at least five mobile suits," Officer Reio said.

"What's our status on regular mobile suits?" Lady Une asked, ignoring the grin Jennifer was giving them.

"Almost down to none.  All we have left is the Gundams," Reio replied, giving her a grim look.

"Aw, how sad, all you have is your Gundams," Jennifer mocked then shut the link.

"Damn that stupid abomination!" Lady Une cursed then slammed a red button that was a general alarm to alert all personnel to report to battle stations.  _This is war_ ,she thought as she narrowed her eyes.

                                    *                      *                      *

Quatre flexed his left hand and grabbed the joystick that controlled his Gundam.  He tried to move it and squeezed his eyes shut as a flash of pain erupted from his shoulder and effected his entire left arm.

"Ignore the pain, ignore the pain," Quatre repeated to himself softly as he moved the Sandrock Kai.  He drew his heat scythes and put on a burst of power and shot off with the rest of the team towards the on coming attackers.

"Hey Quatre, where's circus boy?" Duo's voice came over his communication system.

"He left for important matters," Quatre replied, his voice a bit strained as he slashed at a Leo decapitating its head with his left scythe.

"What…could be so important than defending these people?" Duo muttered over the system, and Quatre saw the Deathscythe Hell swipe its double-bladed scythe and cut apart three Aries at the mid-section.

Quatre powered up his heat scythe until they glowed red then threw them at the group of mobile suits.  Each one fell like limp dolls and exploded.  He then turned and shot four missiles at another group, decimating them.  Quatre walked over to pick up his discarded weapon when something flashed in his mind followed by extreme pain.  Quatre opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.  He heard a voice in his head, _Gundam pilots.  Hear me out; if you want your beloved ones to survive, then meet in space by Colony 03._

"What…the hell…is this?" Zechs' strained voice came over and Quatre doubled over as his empathic link with the other pilots overloaded with their pain.

"Beloved ones.  What the hell is he talking about?" Duo's voice came over slightly strained.

_By now, my forces will have taken over your base, Gundam pilots_ , the voice continued and Quatre spared a glance behind him to see three junky looking mobile suits surrounding the base.  _They may look like wrecks but they are strong, ah, come to outer space or else everyone in the base will die_ , the voice said inside his mind.

"To outer space, every one of us," Quatre whispered and reached out with a shaky hand to throttle his Gundam to the max.  He was pressed against his chair by the G-forces and it didn't help that his shoulder was crying out in protest.  He felt the pain in his heart lessen and knew that whoever had sent the message had relented.  Quatre glanced behind him and saw that Chaing, Zechs, Heero, and Duo had followed him.

"Here's where the final battle begins," Chaing commented to no one.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 15- Trowa vs. Shumii_

 

Trowa ran a check through his weapons as he approached his home Colony.  He saw a few mobile suits patrolling the area.  He opened his missile ports and launched four of the thirty-six homing missiles he had in his arsenal.  Two of each hit one mobile suit, exploding them.

"It's the enemy!  The enemy's here!" he heard the panic cries of some of the mobile suit pilots.

Trowa raised his right arm and unleashed a hail of bullets, which pierced the easy metal of the Leos and Aries.  He raked bullets across the field of enemy mobile suits coming his way, utterly destroying them.  Suddenly a beep warned him of an incoming mobile suit and Trowa glanced behind him to see an exact replica of his mobile suit, but painted in a black-gold design.

"So, this is the infamous Heavyarms Kai.  You sure out done yourself Barton, bring in such a magnificent weapon.  Too bad you're incompetent to pilot it," Ralph's taunting voice came over.

"You were supposed to be dead back on the Egyptian Mission," Trowa said his voice emotionless.

"Well, it looks like you didn't complete the job like you were supposed to, my dear friend," Ralph sneered, "oh, there's someone I like you to meet."

Trowa stiffened as he heard Catherine, "Trowa, don't worry about me, just get out of here, it's a trap!  He's planning on taking you in and having Jennifer Kushrenada turn you into one of her mindless drones!"

"Now, isn't that sweet.  Catherine really likes you, and I never thought you be the ladies type of man," Ralph's voice came back, full of sarcasm.

Trowa didn't reply as he launched his missiles and poured out bullets from his gattling guns.  He saw a cloud of smoke and a sudden fireball as the missiles impacted Ralph's mobile suit mixing with the bullets.  He stopped his assault and watched the debris for any sign of the mobile suit being operational.

"Oh, Barton, did I mention that my mobile suit is made out of gundanium?  Meet the Gundam Fortress, built by your very own Doktor S," Ralph said coming through the debris cloud, barely a scratch on his mobile suit.

Trowa raised one of his eyebrows in surprise.  He hadn't expected that Doktor S would have built another Gundam without him knowing it.  He narrowed his green eyes and raised his shield as Ralph fired a hail of bullets at him.  Suddenly he was slammed forward as two missiles impacted him on the back, sending him forward then backward as the restraining belt prevented him from flying out of the window.

"You're getting too easy to predict Barton.  Don't you remember the first rule in fighting?  Always watch your back," Ralph said, and launched another wave of missiles.

Trowa ducked and released one of his double gattling gun arms.  He pressed a button and a large knife sprang from the wrist of his arm, shining in the sunlight.  Trowa throttle his Gundam and slashed at Ralph who parried with one of his double gattling arms.  Trowa pressed with all his might and the knife slashed through the barrel of the guns, rendering them useless.  Suddenly something hit the back of his head and he fell into the control boards stunned.  Trowa groaned as he lifted himself painfully back up.  There was a whistling sound and he noticed that there was a small cut mark that leaked oxygen out into space.  _Damn_ , Trowa cursed as he realized that Ralph had activated his own knife and took advantage of his distraction.

"Looks like your leaking a little air Barton," Ralph commented then laughed.

Trowa looked around his cockpit interior and noticed a piece of cloth.  He took the cloth and stuffed it into the hole, acting as a temporary repair.  He glanced back at his console and noticed that Ralph had floated near Colony 03.  He gunned his throttle and sped to face him again.  _Wait, why is he standing there?  It must be a ploy_ , Trowa thought as he stopped a few hundred meters away from the Gundam.

"Good, you're still your cautious self, Barton, I like that," Ralph said and Trowa didn't like the sound of his voice.

Suddenly there was a glint and Trowa saw six pairs of energy fields shoot towards him cracking with electricity.  He raised his double gattling gun on his right arm and sent a hail of bullets at the electric fields.  Some of the fields collapsed as the bullets struck home on their inner systems, while other just reflected the bullets.  Trowa ducked as three of the six fields still operational flew by.  He brought up his left arm, the one with the knife, in a parry as Ralph slashed downward hoping to catch him off guard with the ploy.  With his right arm, he shot at the electric fields that were coming at him again.

"Hey Shumii, want any help?" Trowa heard another voice yell out over the frequency and saw through his three-panel viewport that a clunky, junk-like looking mobile suit had entered the fray.

"That was your magnetic fields, Locke Dabnerba?" Ralph asked.

"Yeah, who do ya think has these?" Dabnerba's voice came over slightly annoyed.

"What a piece of junk," Trowa muttered as he launched two missiles at the junky mobile suit.

He had expected it to be completely wiped out, but was surprised as it came through the explosion unscathed.  Suddenly he felt pain enter through his whole body, paralyzing him.  Currents of electricity ran through the cockpit of the Heavyarms Kai, shutting off everything _.  Damn, I let my guard off and those electric fields reached me_ , he thought darkly as he tried to move his arm to reach the self-destruct button.  There was a fresh burst of electrical current and Trowa slumped forward into the console, knocked out.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 16- Into the Heart of the Enemy_

 

As soon as the alarms sounded for a second time, Noin knew that something was wrong.  She gingerly stepped out of bed and didn't feel dizzy at all.  She quickly buttoned up her uniform and grabbed her gun from a small desk in her room.  She suddenly spun around as the door to her room opened.

"Aunt Lucrezia, your up!" Mariemaia exclaimed then ran towards the older woman, hugging her, "Neo Romefeller has taken over the base!"

"Neo what?" Noin asked, slightly confused.

"Remember what Uncle Zechs told you, when he visited?" Mariemaia said, frowning.

"Oh yeah.  Now, Marie, I want you to go to Lady Une and stay with her.  By the way, where is Zechs and the other Gundam pilots?" Noin asked the ten-year-old girl.

"Some person demanded that they head into space near Colony 03, or else they will destroy this base," Mariemaia replied, biting her lower lip in slight frustration.

"All right, tell Lady Une that I'm headed towards space and is going to steal one of their mobile suits," Noin instructed then sent Mariemaia out the door, praying that no soldier would shoot her down.

She grabbed an extra clip of her handgun and proceeded into the hallway.  She rushed through personnel frantically trying to seal off the base.

"Halt!  Hold up your hands in surrender!" a grating voice, said and Noin stopped in her tracks.  She turned around and faced a young man with the tag name of Inshida.

"If you want me, then catch!" Noin yelled and threw a small light-bomb at Gryphon and his men and ran.  She glanced behind him and heard them yell as they were temporarily blinded from the flash.  She ran to the hanger bay and saw only three junky looking mobile suits standing.

"Oh great, mobile suits that look like junk," she muttered under her breath, "well, I can't be choosy so, just take one."  She climbed up one of them and quickly put on her spacesuit and slid on her helmet.  She activated the systems and was surprised at the amount of weaponry and defenses the junky looking mobile suit had.

"Wow, the Lafayette, nice suit.  I could have fun with these," she mumbled then looked up, startled, as gunshots pinged off her suit.  _Damn, all right, gotta go and help Zechs_ , she thought buckling her restraining belt on and throttled her mobile suit away from the base.  She didn't notice another Lafayette following her as she headed towards space.

                                    *                      *                      *

Heero slashed at Taurus trying to bring its guns up on him.  The Taurus exploded sending shards of metal everywhere.  He turned his attention to Colony 03 when something floated by his cockpit.  _That's part of Trowa's Gundam_ , Heero thought as the double-gattling gun rotated slowly through space.  Suddenly a beep tuned him back to the battle and he moved slight to his right as an energy beam shot through where he was.

"Heero Yuy, so glad that we could meet again," Locke's voice came over the frequency.

"Lady, how many lives you got?  Nine?" Duo's voice came over and Heero saw Duo behind Locke's mobile suit that looked a lot like the Mercurius.

"Now, that's a secret you have to find out, Maxwell," Locke replied and shot off four energy fields towards Duo.

"Watch out, those things could paralyze you," Heero warned then brought his green saber up in a parry as Locke activated a purple one.  He sprang back and shot off a couple of rounds from his head-gattling guns, but they bounced off from the shielding the mobile suit had.

"Mine's not like all other Lafayettes, so tread carefully Wing Zero," Locke taunted then came at Heero again.

Heero grunted with effort as he barely stopped her beam from slicing him into pieces.  "Activate Zero System," Heero commanded his mobile suit to do and suddenly felt as if everything around him was magnified to over two hundred percent.  _Target acquired, commencing operation_ , he thought as his enhanced senses picked up Locke's form inside her mobile suit.  He slashed at her and came face to face with her mobile suit.  Suddenly he shot his gattling guns and was satisfied that she staggered back, blinded.

"Heero, hurry up with her!  We've got commando duty on Colony 03!" Duo's voice blared over the communication system.  Heero was slightly annoyed by Duo and suddenly realized that the Zero System would pick his friend up as an enemy.  He quickly attacked Locke, who clumsily blocked his blows.  Finally he saw and opening and slashed at her mid-section.  The Lafayette exploded with the force of one of the Gundams exploding.  Heero was thrown back reeling in space.

"Deactivate…the Zero System," Heero gasped and felt his senses return to normal.

"Heero, you all right?" Quatre's concerned voice came over.

"Fine," Heero replied curtly as he estimated the damages to his Gundam.  Thankfully they were all fine, except for some minor damages to the hull of the mobile suit.

"I wonder if that's the last of her," Duo mumbled over the system as Heero throttled up and easily worked his way through the defense line, now considerably smaller, with Duo following behind him.

"We'll secure the route for you and stay out here in case Kushrenada sends reinforcements," Zechs said as Sandrock Kai and Altlong dispatched the remaining leftovers of the defense line.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 17- Anywhere Is…_

 

Relena slowly opened her eyes, wincing as a bright light shone on her face.  She realized it was just the sun, shining through her window.  Suddenly the whole building shook startling her.  What is going on? She wondered as she sat up in her bed.  Another tremor shook the building and she shielded her eyes as a flash of light swept across the room.  Suddenly the door to her room opened.

"Vice Foreign Minister Peacecraft, we have to get you to a safe zone.  Are you well enough to walk?" a young officer said, bracing herself as a tremor shook the building again.

"What’s going on?" Relena asked, feeling that her body was renewed and healthy after the violent explosion she was in.

"Neo Romefeller is attacking the Base," the officer replied then pulled out a comlink and listened to the speaker in it.  "Ma'am, Lady Une requires your presence if you are well.  We need you to negotiate on behalf of the Earth Sphere Alliance, because you are the only one who survived," the officer said coming into the room and shutting the door behind her.

_Who is this Neo Romefeller?_ Relena wondered as she hesitantly got out of her bed, and slightly shook as she stood on jelly-like legs.  "All right, I'll deal with these people who call themselves Neo Romefeller.  Tell Lady Une that I will be at…where are we anyway?"

"Nairobi Base," the officer replied, holding her steady as she regained her balance.

"Tell Lady Une I will be at the central control room in fifteen minutes," Relena said and waved the officer away.

_Great, just great.  First off, I wake up from a coma that I was in for who knows how long and Lady Une expects me to go and negotiate with someone I do not even have a clue of_ , Relena thought to herself as she changed into her dress-suit.  She felt better after putting on her clothes and realized that she was very hungry.  _Business first before eating_ , she reminded herself as she walked out of her room, careful not to collapse in the hallway since she was still a bit weak.

                                    *                      *                      *

Trowa slowly awoke to a hard, bumpy surface.  He realized that he was still in the cockpit of his Gundam, the restraining belt still attached to him.  He noticed that his helmet had fallen off and was laying somewhere in the cockpit.  He groaned and lifted his head up, feeling slightly dizzy.  His muscles ached from the electric shock he received from the energy fields and Trowa looked around to see that he was in a massive hanger bay, full of other mobile suits.  Suddenly the hatch to his Gundam opened up and Trowa saw a person holding a gun waving for him to come out.  _Guess I have no choice_ , he thought as he unhooked himself from his seat and slid down on to the ground next to his massive Heavyarms Kai.

Immediately guards surrounded him their handguns drawn and aimed at various points of his body.  One came up and handcuffed him with metal binders while another poked a gun into the small of his back a gesture for him to move.

"Move it scum," the guard holding the gun to his back snarled and to emphasize his point he dug the gun a little deeper and snapped the safety off.

Trowa walked towards an elevator and stared blankly ahead as two of the guards accompanied him downwards.  He fingered his binders and silently criticized the poor manufacturing of the restraints.  There was a slight barely audible click and he knew he had freed himself.  He didn't want to break free just yet, he wanted to know where his sister was and who was this mysterious commander of Neo Romefeller.  They walked him to a sparse white room, with no windows, just walls.  In the room there was a small table and two seats.

"Get in, and stay in.  Someone wants to talk to you," the guard said unhooking his binders that he had clicked back together, and shoved him into the room.

Trowa looked back and saw the door mesh in with the rest of the room; not even a crack was seen where the door was supposed to be.  He looked up and saw that the ceiling seemed to be made out of solid concrete.  Suddenly there was some kind of whirling sound and Trowa glanced to his right to see a small window appear out of the wall, the view leading to space.  He walked towards the window and looked out, seeing small flashes of light.  He realized that the Gundam pilots were battling near Colony 03.  There was the click of the door being opened and Trowa turned around to see the guards push someone in.

"Ugh, get away from me.  Don't you know how to treat a lady?" the person being pushed in said, her voice high with annoyance.

"Hah, Shumii will have fun getting information out of you girl, you just full of surprises," one of the guards laughed then shut the door.

"Catherine…" Trowa said relieved that his sister was safe.

"Oh my god, Trowa, they got you too?  Where are the others?" Catherine gasped running to him and hugging him.

Trowa returned the hug awkwardly then jerked his head towards the window.  Catherine looked outside then back at Trowa her face slightly hopeful.

"My isn't this a touching scene.  Two people that I dearly know, star-crossed lovers," Ralph's voice said from the hidden doorway and Trowa narrowed his eyes as he stood in front of Catherine.

"You couldn't have just stayed dead now could you, traitor," Trowa said, as Ralph approached him with the gleam in his eye like a predator that has seen its prey.

"It was you who was the traitor, you abandoned me when I was alive after the Egyptian Mission.  You could have come back and shared the wealth I found in the tomb, but no, you took off like Hawk, coward and afraid," Ralph sneered as his face was merely inches away from Trowa's.

"You turned against us, we had no choice but to eliminate you, Hawk messed up on that job it seems.  Besides you weren't a perfect soldier," Trowa retaliated then blocked a fist coming towards his jaw.

"Neither were you…No-name.  I know your secret.  You took on the real Trowa Barton's name as a cover for your so called Operation Meteor.  You're just nobody, nothing.  Heavyarms Kai doesn't even belong to you, it was supposed to be mine, and so was Catherine," Ralph yelled, throwing an uppercut that caught Trowa off guard and sent him flying across the room.

"Trowa!" Catherine yelled, then felt her wrist locked in the iron grip of Shumii.  She struggled but the grip didn't lessen.  "Let me go!" she yelled the felt her air supply cut off as she was held in a choke-grip.

"Keep struggling Catherine, it won't do you any good," Ralph's voice whispered in her ear, making some hairs stand up in the back of her neck.

Trowa slowly got up, wiping some blood from a cut on his lip.  "Let go of my sister," Trowa said in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Sister?" Ralph exclaimed totally surprised.

"You heard the man, let his sister go," a voice said from the doorway and Ralph spun around to see Duo, standing in the middle of the door his gun steady on him.  The booted feet of the two guards that were supposed to be guarding the door were laying on the ground, knocked out or dead, Ralph couldn't tell.

Trowa took the opportunity to grab Ralph's gun, hanging loosely from its holster and fired a bullet into his back, hitting the spine and piercing the heart, immediately killing him.  He glanced over at Catherine, who's face was white and she was staring at the body that thumped to the ground, blood pooling over the floor.

"That, was messy, care not to do it again cause I just had my lunch," Duo gagged, making fake throwing up noises.

"What are you doing here?" Trowa asked, taking Catherine by the hand and walked out of the room, with Duo behind him.

"Heero plans to kill Kushrenada and I was about to head to the control room to stop the cloaking fields," Duo replied, ducking behind a wall as bullets whizzed by them, shattering into a nearby office of some sort.

"Get going, I'll cover you," Trowa ordered then fired some bullets in the direction of the shooters before leaning back into a wall as the shooters returned with their own attack.  He nodded as Duo who ran out of cover and towards the operation room on board the Colony.  Trowa leaned a bit out of his cover and shot off another round.  He heard the click of his gun emptied, and cursed.  _Damn, this is going to get hard_ , he thought as he looked at Catherine who was scared out of her wits.

                                    *                      *                      *

Zechs didn't like what he was seeing.  From out of nowhere thirty mobile suits appeared and were approaching them on a very fast attack vector.  He activated the Epyon's Zero System, not too powerful or deadly as Wing Zero's and felt half of his senses mesh with the Gundam.  Technically, his Epyon wasn't a Gundam since it was half made out of titanium and had the short distance attacks of the Tallgeese III.

"Zechs watch your back, it looks like they used a double-header attack," Chaing's voice came over the system and Zechs glanced behind him to see another wave, this one with about fifteen mobile suits approaching them from behind.

"You will surrender or face the consequences," Gryphon Inshida's voice came over, heavy with sarcasm.

"Yeah, surrender now, or will blow you up to bits!" an insane voice added on, and Zechs recognized it as Tano Comino's voice, induced by the Columbia's Zero System.

"I don't think so boys, you ain't gonna have the fun!" a familiar female voice said and Zechs was surprised to see a beat up junky mobile suit whiz pass him holding a very large beam cannon.

"Noin?" Zechs asked, surprised.

"Hey Zechs, you having fun?" Noin's gentle sarcasm came over as she shot off a long beam of energy at two mobile suits that looked like hers, disintegrating them.

"Plenty," Zechs replied before using his heat whip and lashed out at two Leos, decapitating them from the navel to the head.  He used his boosters charged at a Taurus who looked just about scared to death.  Suddenly he switched to his beam sword and cut a wide arc across, catching a few straggling mobile suits that exploded.

"Hey, hey, save some for me!" Noin said and Zechs was glad to hear her laughter again as she pulled out two flame-throwers that looked awfully like Shenlong's dragon-heads and barbecued an Aries.

He holstered his beam sword and curled up his whip as he took out his mega cannon; it's barrel glowing with energy waiting to be released.  Zechs took careful aim and fired a shot that was designed to go through and nick vital parts on a group of mobile suits.  He glanced up and grinned a bit as his aim was true to its mark.  About half of the mobile suits that were surrounding them had been wiped out.  _Just hope that Jennifer Kushrenada realizes that she's loosing this war and will surrender before countless lives are lost_ , Zechs thought as he charged at another group of mobile suits, firing at him missing him most of the time.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 18- Clashing Above the Earth_

 

Chaing glanced at his sensor boards in the cockpit of his mobile suit.  He held his twin beam trident in his hands like a staff-fighter would, its glowing green ends pulsating with energy waiting to be unleashed on a mobile suit.

"Fancy meeting you here again Altlong.  I told you I will be back," Gryphon's voice came over and Chaing saw a Lafayette sidle up into his view.  The earth slowly revolved below them, clouds wisping the surface, seemingly wanting to reach out into space and grab hold of them.

"You confidence in the Lafayette was your undoing, do you now challenge me again with that same suit?" Chaing asked, shaking his head at the poor design of the mobile suit.

"You just haven't seen the full power of my suit.  Here, let me demonstrate it for you," Gryphon said and activated his shielding plates, much like the Mercurius' shielding.

"You have just met your doom," Chaing said and slashed at one of the shield plates the mobile suit had erected, slicing through it like scissors cutting through paper.  He had expected the whole shielding system to break apart, but it still held together.

"The Lafayette compensates for damage received," Gryphon taunted and took out a flame-thrower and beam gun.

Chaing raised his shield that was on his left arm and felt the blast of the heat hit his shield.  He backed away a little and retaliated with his own blast from one of his two dragon fangs.  Suddenly he throttled quickly and lowered his shield.  He saw surprise written all over the mobile suit's features and slashed downwards with one end of his trident.  Gryphon's arm blocked the deadly energy beam, but Chaing just quickly reversed the process and ran through the stomach of the mobile suit with the other end of his twin trident.  He backed away as electrical currents ran through the body of the Lafayette, shaking it all over.

"You…you haven't seen the last of me Chaing Wufei!  I still have one card left to play!" Gryphon's voice came over, laced with fear, " _Galaxia_!  This is Inshida!  Commence Operation Takeover!"

Chaing shielded his eyes as Gryphon's death scream faded abruptly as the Lafayette exploded into a million pieces, some already making their trip towards Earth and burning in the atmosphere.  Suddenly there was a ripple in space and a crystalline form materialized where Gryphon once was.  The _Galaxia_ had arrived, weapons glowing with power as it pointed towards Colony 01.

                                    *                      *                      *

Quatre ducked as Tano slashed at him with his heat saber, leaving a red trail of energy behind.  He attacked with his twin heat scythes, crossing them with the saber and pressed with all his might.  Both weapons began to glow a reddish color of trapped energy wanting to be released.  Suddenly Quatre stumbled as Tano shot his gattling guns from his free hand; the bullets peppered into the chest of his Gundam, forcing him to break the bond and throttle back.

"Damage report," Quatre said and the read-outs that he received said that only minor surface damage was done to his Gundam.  Suddenly Tano's insane laugh filled the cockpit, making a chill run its way through his back.  Rashid had warned him of the Columbia-Zero's deadly zero system, and he could feel in his mind through his empathic link with all living things, the pain and pleasure Tano's body and mind was having induced in its system.  "Tano, you have to get out of that mobile suit!  It's going to kill you if you keep using it!" Quatre pleaded with his former friend turned childhood rival.

"Don't bother me Winner, you don't understand the power of this suit, it's glory and its swiftness in attacks…like this!" Tano shouted slashing his heat saber at Quatre who blocked with his scythes.  He was being forced back by the powerful hits Tano was delivering, but backwardness has no meaning in space.  He took a quick glance at Chaing and saw him engaged in a fierce battle with a Lafayette mobile suit that was modified.

"Tano, I do understand.  I was once driven crazy in the Zero System, and it almost killed me.  Don't you understand that thing will do the same for you?" Quatre said, hoping that he could reason with him before giving up.

"You and your precious Zero System.  You're too weak to handle it, just like the rest of your family, especially your father.  How is he?  Dead, I presume since I was the one who ordered the missiles to be fired at the satellite," Tano said, and Quatre felt his anger bubble to the surface of his conscious, enraging him.

"You were the one who did that!  How could you…you…murderer!" Quatre yelled, and blindly slashed at Tano, not caring if he was hurting or not.  He felt a deep void open inside him, closed since the death of his father four years ago.  Quatre felt his strength build up as battled Tano, their reaction time almost equal as one was using the modified Zero System and one was driven by blind rage.

Suddenly Tano screamed as waves and waves of pain and hot anger running through his senses and mind assaulted him.  "What are you doing Winner?  You're going to kill me!" Tano said through a strangled voice, as his mind was half concentrated and influenced by the Zero System, while the other was trying to block out the pain.

"And what if I do, it doesn't matter.  You are a murderer, you killed my father," Quatre's voice came over, blank and emotionless.

"Quatre stop, he has already learned his lesson," Zechs' voice interrupted Quatre's thoughts and he disengaged from the battle backing up a bit.

"But he needs to…" Quatre started then trailed off as a crystalline form rippled in space.

"He's already got it.  Killing him won't bring your father back.  It's the past, you cannot go back and change it," Noin's voice drilled into the back of his mind.

Quatre lowered his head, as he realized that he had acted in anger, not caring about the consequences.  He didn't notice Tano limping away, headed towards Colony 02.  _They're both right, what Tano did was in the past, I cannot change it_ , Quatre thought then lifted his head back up, ready to face the new foe that had entered the arena.

                                    *                      *                      *

Relena was slightly annoyed by Jennifer Kushrenada.  She could sum up one word to describe the nineteen-year-old girl…psychotic.

"Why are you doing this to the people who want peace?" Relena asked, holding up a hand to forestall Lady Une's intervention.

"You Relena Peacecraft.  You do not understand that a new age is coming, an age where humans must struggle to survive.  After I destroy you opposition, I will sow out the strong among the sea of weak and they will be the dominating race of the earth.  Wars are continuous, they will never end.  You just try to suffocate that idea," Jennifer replied, her gray-hazel eyes sparkling with some hint of insanity.

"The Earth Sphere Alliance never wanted to quarrel with you.  Why can't you just settle with peace, everyone is prosperous that way," Relena said, as she narrowed her blue eyes, and pulled a few strands of blonde-brown hair away from her eyes.

"But, where would technology be if we didn't have wars.  You don't understand and you won't ever.  You see the consequences of those who oppose me," Jennifer said then shut the link off.

"All right, give me the status of the Gundams," Lady Une ordered.

"Sandrock, Altlong, Epyon are functional.  Wing Zero and Deathscythe are positioned near Colony 03, they went along with the mission to eliminate Kushrenada.  Heavyarms is unaccounted for," a officer replied then paused for a second as she received information from her headphones, "Ma'am, we have a space ship, looks like the prototype for our first attempt at the _Galaxia-class_ warships.  Its guns are pointed at Colony 01…ma'am, I think it's going to destroy the Colony."

Relena felt a deep pit in her stomach as she realized that hundreds of thousands of people would die if the Galaxia fired its guns into the Colony.  _Wars never have good outcomes_ , she thought darkly.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 19- The Kushrenada Assassination_

 

Heero dropped down from some pipes he was hanging from, landing softly on the ground.  He ran quickly towards a wall and peeked from it, seeing a couple of guards walking around.  He slowly approached them then swiftly jabbed each on a pressure point around the neck area, knocking them unconscious.

"Access code, cleared," Heero said as he stuck a card into the slot to open a door and pressed a few buttons.  The door hissed open softly as Heero ran through, drawing his handgun out.  Something in his mind registered that something was amiss, it was too easy, and there should have been more resistance as he ran down long hallways, heading towards the Commons Room.  He entered the spacious place and found it empty.

"Hold it right there Wing Zero, you aren't going anywhere," Locke's voice said behind him and the click of the safety being taken off echoed throughout the place.

Heero turned around to face the fourth cyborg-hive clone of Locke Dabnerba, this one with long blonde hair up in a tight bun and sharp green eyes.  She was wearing glasses and looked a lot like Lady Une.  Suddenly there was a sound of gunshot and a knife buried itself into Locke's shoulder drawing blood.  Heero saw Locke totter a bit, obviously dying.

"You won Wing Zero, but I'll be back for my revenge someday," Locke whispered before falling down to the ground dead.

"How many more to go Heero?" Trowa asked, coming over holding a handgun and a machine gun.  Catherine followed behind him, two knives in her hands.

"She's the last one of her cyborg-hive mind," Heero answered not turning around to face Trowa.

A clapping hand was heard, echoing through the wide-open area.  Trowa, Heero and Catherine turned around, surprised to see Ralph Shumii walking towards them, smiling all the way.

"I congratulate you Gundam pilots for such audacity and bravery.  You've actually gotten this far," Ralph said, and Heero could sense the anger coming from Trowa.

"You're supposed to be dead," Trowa stated flatly.

"That was a hologram I simulated.  Quite real don't you think?  Don't worry, I'm the real one you're after, but I don't think you're going to kill me now, since you objective is Kushrenada," Ralph said, spreading his arms wide in a gesture of glee.

"Shumii, telling them that I'm to be assassinated?" a female voice said and Trowa and Heero raised their guns up ready to shoot Jennifer Kushrenada who walked in from a hidden door in the spacious room.  "You know, I just finished talking to that pacifist Peacecraft and I said that those who oppose me will face the consequences.  Maybe I'll start with you three," she said smiling sadistically.  She lifted her hands up and Heero saw electricity crackle from the fingertips.  He glanced at her eyes and saw that they were a shining, glowing black color.

Heero suddenly felt blinding pain enter his head and coursed through his body, enticing him to have spasms of agony.  _So this is what a newtype power is, destructive like the Zero System_ , he thought as he gritted his teeth against the pain.  He noticed through pain filled eyes that Catherine had collapsed, her mind not strong enough like him and Trowa's, which were enhanced by the Gundams.

"You Gundam pilots are strong, but not strong enough," Jennifer said, her eyes were wide with an inhumane fury in them, the endless pool of black flashed as more electricity gathered in her hands.

Heero felt another wave of pain, and flashes of his memory ran through his head.  He saw Trowa fall to the ground, and Kushrenada laughed maniacally, enjoying every moment.

"Wing Zero, you are stubborn," Jennifer stated and walked a few feet towards him, her hand holding a ruby stone in a golden glove-like contraption.

He saw her raise the contraption and point it straight at him.  The contraption flashed with blue lightning and the ruby stone glowed a crimson red.  Suddenly if what he felt was only a tickle of pain, this was like an operation without anesthesia.  Heero doubled over from the pain.  _This is just like the Zero System_ , he realized as he groped for his discarded gun.  He wrapped his hands around it and pointed it straight at Jennifer who was oblivious to the weapon that was pointing straight at her.

"Omae o korosu," Heero whispered an ancient phrase native to his nationality, then pressed his finger on the trigger, never letting go.

Jennifer had a look of surprise as five bullets entered her, piercing her heart.  She was pitched backwards and landed on the ground, stunned.  She saw Ralph lean over her, saying something, but she couldn't hear it as blood roared through her ears.  She glanced frantically at him, and mouthed something, before her vision dimmed and she saw blackness.

Heero shot off one more bullet hitting Ralph in the head, before collapsing from exhaustion.  The gun clattered to the ground next to him and he felt unconsciousness take over him.

"Mission accomplished," Heero whispered, before letting the blackness engulf him.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 20- Stopping Scorched Earth_

 

Duo kicked open the door to the control room for the cloaking devices, and pointed his gun in; ready to fire at anything that was hostile.  He peeked in and saw nobody, and hurried in.

"Okay, now, which one controls the cloaking devices…hmm," Duo said to himself as he glanced over various control boards, "Ah."

He quickly brought up a control schematics on the cloaking device and typed a command in.  [ **Request not accepted** ] the computer screen said back to him.  _What the hell?_ Duo wondered as he typed another command in.  [ **Request not accepted, will begin Operation Scorched Earth** ] the computer said and Duo noticed that the cloaking devices situated around the Colonies were headed towards Earth, on a collision course with the planet.

"Aw, hell, this is bad, way bad," Duo muttered as he typed in another command trying to stop the countdown.  He banged his fist on the board as the computer didn't accept his override commands.  "Damn, gotta get Heero and go tell the others to stop this," Duo said and ran out of the control room.

He skidded to a stop as he noticed a spacious room's doors open and saw three bodies, two, which looked familiar.  _Hey, that's Trowa and Heero!_ Duo thought as he ran in to help his friends.

"Hey, you guys, wake up!  We've got to stop the satellites!  They're on a collision course with the earth!" Duo shouted and was relieved when he heard a groan coming from Heero and a moan from a young girl who looked a bit like Trowa.

"Oh my god, what is going on," the girl muttered, rubbing her forehead.

"You all right miss?" Duo asked, helping her up, "the name's Duo Maxwell."

"You’re the Duo Maxwell that Trowa's been talking about?  Trowa!" the girl exclaimed looking frantically at the unconscious body of Trowa and Duo realized that the girl was Catherine, Trowa's sister.

"I'm all right," Trowa mumbled, standing up, then helped a dazed looking Heero up.

"Mission accomplished?" Duo asked Heero who looked haggard.

Heero nodded, and Duo grinned.  He then wiped the grin off his face as he said, "You guys there's a problem…it seems that the cloaking devices are programmed for a Scorched Earth Policy."  He noted the horror look on Catherine's face, and the grim look on Heero and Trowa's faces.  They had to shoot each cloaking device down.

                                    *                      *                      *

Zechs narrowed his blue eyes, and blew a few strands of platinum blonde hair out of his eyes.  They were at a standoff, Colony 01's people life at stake.  He had heard of the plans for the Galaxia-class warships the Earth Sphere Alliance was to build for security purposes, but had never seen one.  _And this is supposed to be the prototype, they have the weapons working at full charge_ , Zechs thought darkly as he fingered his heat whip.

"You will surrender your Gundams or else Colony 01 will perish in one shot," a female voice demanded.

"Hey, you guys in the _Galaxia-class_ warship, you're from earth right?" Duo's voice came over and Zechs saw the Deathscythe Hell, Wing Zero, and Heavyarms Kai throttle away from Colony 03.

"What are you saying pilot, we do not have time for your games," the female captain came back a tad bit impatient.

"Well, you have families right?" Duo asked, and Zechs feverantly wondered what the braided Gundam pilot was getting at.

"Your point?" the captain said, slightly bored and annoyed.

"Well, you've heard of the Scorched Earth Policy right?  Your commander just ordered the deaths of your families and countless others," Duo declared and Zechs stood frozen in the cockpit of the Epyon.

"You're bluffing," the captain replied a slight fear in her voice.

"You could ask Kushrenada that, but I think Heero killed her.  Go check your sensors, we've got planetary missiles to stop," Duo said and Zechs shot towards the earth on an atmospheric approach vector.  He curled up his heat whip and took out his mega cannon and spotted a cluster of cloaking devices, already entering the atmosphere.

"Well, you guys can fight, well can't you!" Zechs yelled as he shot off a giant beam of yellow energy that obliterated the cloaking devices cluster.  There was silence on the other end of the link, and then the sound of some gunshots rang from the com-system.

"We…will help you, we all aren't cold blooded killers," the captain said and Zechs spared a glance behind him before hitting the early atmosphere, and saw the Galaxia's weapons power up and shoot down various cloaking devices.  The other Gundam pilots followed his suit and brought out their various weapons to destroy the cloaking devices.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Chapter 21- Final Attack, Beginning of a New Era_

 

Quatre weaved in and out of the many cloaking devices that were falling like mini meteors through the atmosphere.  He had used up all his gattling guns' bullets and the only weapon he had left was his twin heat scythes.  He slashed right and left, exploding the cloaking devices.

Suddenly a heavy object slammed into him and latched on.  Quatre turned his head slightly to see the broken remnants of Tano's mobile suit on him.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me," Tano's voice came over and he laughed hysterically.

"Quatre I have a clear shot, get away," Trowa's voice came over.

"This is between me and him," Quatre replied, then narrowed his blue eyes to slits, "what are you trying to do murderer?"

"You of all people, you destroyed my life Winner, you will die to your grave in the waters below," Tano replied, as he and Quatre fell rapidly towards the ocean.

"Quatre, get out while you still can!" Duo's frantic voice came over, "you're going to hit the water and at that pressure you won't survive."

Quatre was oblivious to the frantic calls from his friends.  Here was the killer of his father, and his rival.  Did he really want to kill him?  _No, I don't want to_ , he realized, as he became something he didn't want to be…a perfect soldier with no emotions to hinder him.

_"And you not only went down to earth in a MS, but created an excuse for earth to attack us."_ Quatre remembered his father saying to him, when he returned to his home Colony, before his father past away.

_"This battle holds no meaning to those on the colonies and the earth. But this is a battle that must be fought.  Because this is a battle by both to protect the colonies."_ Quatre recalled the speech Lady Une said during the Eve War.  Something inside him snapped as he weighed the consequences…he could kill Tano for murdering his father.  But then he would sink to his level.  He took a deep breath and let it out.

"Tano, I forgive you," Quatre whispered over the communications system.

"You…you what?" Tano's voice came back, confused and fear laced all over it.

"Get out of your mobile suit, now, it's going to explode," Quatre said holding his free hand out trying to reach Tano.

"Quatre, it's too late, I've killed too many.  I deserve this fate, let me be," Tano said, and Quatre saw the Columbia-Zero disengaged from him and move away.  Suddenly it exploded in mid-air sending shards of metal everywhere.

"Tano…" Quatre whispered, saddened at the death of his rival.

"This is _Galaxia_ , mission accomplished, we're landing at Nairobi Base and surrendering," the captain of the _Galaxia_ said and Quatre saw the sleek, crystalline ship descend through the atmosphere and headed towards the lower part of Africa.

"Let's get going, I need some chow," Duo chuckled and moved his Deathscythe Hell towards Nairobi, following the _Galaxia_.  Quatre saw the other pilots do the same and he glanced back at the place where Tano had self-destructed himself.  _Goodbye, my friend_ , Quatre thought as he followed the rest of them.

                                    *                      *                      *

_Epilogue- Dawn of a New Age_

 

Heero descended his Gundam, and was swept up in the arms of Relena.  He returned the hug awkwardly, slightly uncomfortable.

"Hey, Heero, kiss her!" Duo shouted, laughing at the slight shade of red that was appearing on Heero's face.  Suddenly there was a tapping on his shoulder and Duo turned around to see Hildre hand him an envelope.

"What's this?" Duo asked, confused.

"It's from the newscasters at the Global Station, they are honoring you by having you come over for an interview along with the other Gundam pilots," Hildre replied, and yanked on his yard long braid.

"Way cool!" Duo yelled grinning like an idiot.

Chaing patted his Gundam affectionately, glad that Nataku had helped him through this battle.  He heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see Colonel Sally Po walking up to him, a bright smile on her face.

"Ma'am," Chaing said saluting as his commanding officer stopped in front of him and returned the salute.

"Well, done Wufei, well done.  Your wife would have been proud of you," Sally said giving him a grin.

Trowa stood to the side of things with Quatre along side of him, Catherine on his other side.  He glanced at Quatre who looked saddened yet did not shed a tear.

"Master Quatre!" the voice of Rashid cried out and Trowa looked up to see around forty Maganac soldiers rush towards them in a stampede, along with Iria who hung back.

Quatre's mood immediately perked up as he saw his loyal friends coming towards him.  He saw his sister hang back then was surrounded by the Maganacs.

"You were great up there Master Quatre," Abdul complimented him, ruffling his hair.

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.  Rashid, mission accomplished, you needn't worry about the Columbia, all were destroyed and the plans are burned," Quatre replied, then eased his way out of the small crowd of Maganacs.  He approached his sister and hugged her.  "You were right, Iria, you should have sedated me even more," Quatre joked, then released her.

"Trowa next time, we'll use one of the tranquilizers from your circus," Iria said and Quatre turned around to see Catherine and Trowa walk towards them.

"You have got to joking…no way am I ending up like one of those animals," Quatre said, mock horrified at the prospect.  He heard Duo yell out a whoop and turned around and saw Zechs, kissing Noin not caring for anything in the world.  Glancing at the reaction of the other people, Quatre grinned as he saw Relena's jaw drop open, Mariemaia grinning from ear to ear, Heero had a ghost of smile while Chaing raised an eyebrow.  He shook his head and noticed Trowa's eyes were up on the sky.

Trowa glanced at the sky, and imagined space beyond the blue, cloudless sky.  He didn't have to see his home Colony, he was here at home.  Space was when he was lonely and he was confused by his destiny.  Here was his home, here with his friends.  _Yep, space is for lonely hearts_ , he thought as he saw a small piece of debris leftover from the battle shoot across the sky, burning.

                                    *                      *                      *

A pair of eyes watched the festive scene happening.  _Wing Zero, you will fall.  In time, your time will be up_ , Locke Dabnerba thought as she crept away.

                                    *                      *                      *

 

_Everything, including the present and the future, are in the flames of war_

_All are enveloped in the struggle---and becomes an illusion_

_So our lives and the smiles that are fading out_

_Will surely make the new world_

 

\---Translation from the chorus song of _Ai wa ryuusei (Love Is a Shooting Star)_

 

# Fini~ Or is it…


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